Unfortunately we are having to suspend services in the church building at Billingsley for the next month or so, due to the dangers of Covid. But please remember, the church in Billingsley is not closed; we remain a community of believers acting out our faith in the community and just for the moment, worshiping online; https://www.stmaryshighley.co.uk/virtual-sunday-service/
And the church building remains open!
1) Wednesday Home Group, 7.00pm,
For the next few weeks, we are looking at the book of Nehemiah
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Meeting ID: 359 285 1895
Password: 512607
2) Friday Morning Prayer, 9.00am
Not being hosted by myself this week
3) Friday night prayer, 9.00pm
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Meeting ID: 359 285 1895
Password: 512607
4) Sunday Morning Prayer, 10.00am (Whilst lockdown lasts)
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Meeting ID: 860 9504 5519
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The January draw of the 100 Club has taken place and the first number out of the bag was 67 which won it’s owner £61. The next number, 68, was worth £30.50 as was the third number to be drawn which was 43. Mrs Ellen McConnell kindly drew the number and Helen Lewis was official witness, thank you to both.
If you would like to see a video of the draw visit St Mary’s Billingsley Facebook page.
The latest members of the 100 Club have both won within weeks or even days of joining. Beginners luck maybe!
As ever thank you to all our supporters which has been a life line.
Hope and Vaclav Havel
“Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out”
I was introduced to this quotation, from the former Czech president and philosopher, Vaclav Havel, a few days ago by our rector, the Rev Mike Harris. It seems particularly appropriate for our current situation, where we seem torn between the good news that vaccines are now being deployed and the bad news that Covid is raging and for thousands, the vaccine will be too late. Havel is perhaps best remembered as the man who led the peoples of Czechoslovakia from freedom from Russia and who also managed the peaceful division of the country into the Czech republic and Slovakia. As far as I know, he did not identify strongly with any established faith but he had a strong “spirituality”; a sense that it was not enough just to deal with a person’s material needs.
Talk of hope can seem very inadequate; a blind faith that the worse will not happen when it is obvious that it might. The Jews of the Old Testament knew this very well; their history was littered with disasters. And yet, whilst they sometimes raged against God, they had hope that whatever befell them, God was still with them. This was the hope that was shown in the life and especially the death of Jesus; abandoned by even God on the cross but paradoxically trusting that God was still with him. So the Christian hope cannot be wishful thinking; Jesus did die. Instead it is that no matter how hopeless the situation, the love of God can never be excluded. In his own way, I think Vaclav Havel understood this; it is something we can usefully remember in our current hopelessness.
The first draw in 2021 of Billingsley’s 100 Club will take place on Friday 8th January. If you would like to nominate someone to make the draw or even pull the numbers out of the bag yourself please let us know. The draw will take place on the ‘Green’ at 3.30pm.
The door of Billingsley Church is currently decorated by a wreath. The wreath is a common Christmas decoration. The Wikipedia take on wreaths is that they originated in the ancient world, with connections to mythology and also as something that could be placed on the head of a victor, either in a sports competition such as the Olympic Games or a soldier after a battle. They were adopted by the Christian Church, although Wikipedia seems to think that the association with Advent and Christmas did not happen until the 16th century. The wreath is made of evergreens, representing everlasting life (or at least, the hope of life in the darkness of winter); the circle of the wreath was used to symbolise the eternity of God. The wreath is also used a base for candles, with one lit for each of the four Sundays of Advent. Although I can’t find much on the internet, I wonder if there is also a connection between a holly wreath and the crown of thorns pushed onto Jesus’s head at the crucifixion?
I’m sure all this is true, but I have to say none of this was what I thought when I saw the wreath on the church door. Instead, I was struck by its simple beauty; a flash of rich green against the light oak of the door. And also the way it seemed to invite me to open the door, to see what was inside the church. It was as though it was calling me in, calling me to hope. Perhaps that is not such a bad message in this of all Christmases, when we celebrate God coming into our world, to invite us to join him in his world.
We all have things we long for. At the moment it is probably an end to the virus, but most of us have other concerns. This Sunday is Human Rights’ Sunday; a reminder that many people long for freedoms we take for granted. Advent is a time when we recognise that neither the world nor we ourselves are as we would wish. As a Christian I turn to the life of Jesus, who I believe opened a new way of living. The words below are a hymn, written by Bernadette Farrell, which express to me what Advent means; my longing to see the Christ in this age.
Longing for light, we wait in darkness.
Longing for truth, we turn to you.
Make us your own, your holy people,
light for the world to see.
Longing for peace, our world is troubled.
Longing for hope, many despair.
Your word alone has power to save us.
Make us your living voice.
Longing for food, many are hungry.
Longing for water, many still thirst.
Make us your bread, broken for others,
shared until all are fed.
Longing for shelter, many are homeless.
Longing for warmth, many are cold.
Make us your building, sheltering others,
walls made of living stone.
Many the gifts, many the people,
many the hearts that yearn to belong.
Let us be servants to one another,
making your kingdom come.
Christ be our light! Shine in our hearts. Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light! Shine in your church gathered today.
(See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt3Qc04ulOM to hear the hymn)
Please join us over Christmas at one (or more!) of our events
Friday 18th December, 7.00pm; Christmas Carols at Lincoln Fields
Join us on the grass in front of Lincoln Fields for 30 minutes as we sing some Christmas Carols. Bring a torch….
Christmas Day, December 25th, 10.00am; Christmas worship
A short service of words and music for Christmas Day
This week has brought good news; the first of the vaccines has been approved for use in this country. Indeed, by the time these words appear the first few people may have even had the first round of vaccination. It will take quite a few months before everyone in need in this country is protected; significantly longer worldwide. But the process will happen; the pandemic will retreat. The speed of the science is breath-taking; as one of the scientists involved pointed out; in less than a year we have moved from a brain-storming session around a white-board to the clinic. Thank goodness for human ingenuity! And more besides; the current vaccine is a collaboration between a German biotech company founded by Turkish immigrants in collaboration with a US pharmaceutical company, exploiting technology developed by scientists from probably a dozen countries. Thank goodness for our common humanity and international collaboration! And even more, the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, not far behind, will be much easier to give in developing countries and AZ have forsaken commercial interests and undertaken to supply it at cost-price to these countries. Thank goodness for generosity!
I have no idea whether any of those involved in all these good news stories have religious faith. But in the Christian story, we believe that each person has free will, to chose to do good or not and that by doing good they work alongside God in bringing about his Kingdom, whether they believe in God or not. In the season of Advent, when we look forward to the completion of God’s Kingdom here on earth, I celebrate the work of the vaccine scientists and the company directors in making that Kingdom come, here on earth as it is in heaven.
1) Wednesday Home Group, 7.00pm,
For the next few weeks, we are looking at the book of Nehemiah
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3592851895?pwd=cksyL0t5TlhFUURRenpxMG9yQTVhUT09
Meeting ID: 359 285 1895
Password: 512607
2) Friday Morning Prayer, 9.00am
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3592851895?pwd=cksyL0t5TlhFUURRenpxMG9yQTVhUT09
Meeting ID: 359 285 1895
Password: 512607
3) Friday night prayer, 9.00pm
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3592851895?pwd=cksyL0t5TlhFUURRenpxMG9yQTVhUT09
Meeting ID: 359 285 1895
Password: 512607