Touch in and out of times of Covid. 

A couple of weeks ago, my attention was caught by a news item about research on the importance of touch. It seems that during lock-down, one of things that people living alone most missed was being touched by loved ones. Perhaps this should not have come as surprise. Touch is at the centre of many deep emotional experiences, from what the prayer book rather coyly calls the “tenderness of sexual union”, the hug between a parent and child to holding someone’s hand in illness or as they leave this life. It also has more negative associations; it is used to assert power over another person, to abuse and dominate them. Jesus knew the importance of touch; when he healed people there was invariably physical content. Sometimes, as with the case of the woman with menstrual bleeding, the initiative came from the person who wanted to be healed; for such people, it was enough to just touch his clothing.

Perhaps in recognition of the importance of physical contact, the Church of England service of Holy Communion has space where people can offer each other “a sign of peace”; in most congregations, this means shaking hands, embracing or even kissing others in the congregation. This needs to be done with sensitivity; I feel uncomfortable about being overly intimate with a person I do not know well, but it does have powerful symbolism when carried out appropriately.

But now, for most of us, touch is back off the agenda. As the second wave of Covid begins to bite and the range of our permitted contacts shrink, we again must find ways of caring at a physical distance. I have no answers to this, other than to suggest that it makes it all the more important to keep in contact with those around us; speaking in person if that is safe and lawful, otherwise by phone, letter or computer. These cannot replace physical touch, but it is the best that we can do. Perhaps we can take some comfort for the fact that for the past 2000 years, God has used virtual touch to reach out to people!

Dear All,

Details of events this coming week are below: all are welcome! Please pass these invitations on to anyone who you think might be interested. Please note I am restarting a home group, to replace the Wednesday catch-up. My idea is  that each session will be self-contained, so feel free to drop in and out as you wish. We will start by looking at some of the ideas from Holy Habits on “Eating together”; you may wish to have a packet of crisps to hand as we do this….

David

1) Wednesday Home Group

Oct 14th, 2020 07:00 PM London

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Meeting ID: 359 285 1895

2) Friday Morning Prayer, 9.00am

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Meeting ID: 359 285 1895

3) Friday night prayer

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Meeting ID: 359 285 1895

I’ve read that when a shepherd died and came to be buried, a handful of wool would be put alongside him in the coffin. The idea was that, come the last trumpet and the resurrection of the dead, the shepherd would emerge clutching the wool to show that when everybody else had been in church, he had a genuine reason why he was rarely there; he had to be with his sheep, to do his job. I don’t know how true this is, still less am I convinced of the theology behind it, but it is an instructive story.

As a vicar, I am very much aware that one of the things I do on a Sunday is to count the congregation in church. Well, of course, I hope people will attend the services I take and that what I say and do may help them in their faith, wherever they may be on that particular journey. But it is all to easy to become a Sunday-only vicar, or indeed a Sunday-only Christian. A couple of months ago, when all our church buildings were closed, I reproduced a cartoon entitled “where the church is”. It showed a street in a city, with a series of arrows pointing, apparently random at people or at shops, offices or factories. Next to each arrow was that same caption “the church is here”. It made the point that wherever we go, God is present and we so we can find God anywhere and at any time. If I bring anything distinctive to my work as a vicar, it is because I work full time outside the church, as scientist and university lecturer. I don’t wear my clerical collar when I am at work; simply a cross lapel badge to remind myself in times of stress of the faith I try to practice. I take inspiration from a fellow worker-priest, who has spoken of how his computer on his desk at work becomes his altar, as he prays for his work colleagues. But this isn’t something just restricted to the minority of volunteer vicars; the cartoon in the church times was pointing out that it something that all Christians should aspire to. Perhaps as a church we do not do enough to celebrate what people do when they are not in church on a Sunday; we don’t need a clerical collar or a tuft of wool to take our faith out into where we work and live.

Dear All,

Details of events this coming week are below: all are welcome! Please pass these invitations on to anyone who you think might be interested.

1) Wednesday evening catch-up

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3592851895?pwd=cksyL0t5TlhFUURRenpxMG9yQTVhUT09

Meeting ID: 359 285 1895

NB I will shortly be turning this into an online home group; details to follow.

2) Friday Morning Prayer, 9.00am

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https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3592851895?pwd=cksyL0t5TlhFUURRenpxMG9yQTVhUT09

Meeting ID: 359 285 1895

3) Friday night prayer

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Meeting ID: 359 285 1895

The second draw of the Friends of Billingsley 100 Club took place today Friday (2nd October at 5pm). Thank you to John Kirwin who drew the balls from the bag. The top prize of £57 went to J Sorokos (37) and two further prizes of £28.50 each went to G Perry (26) and H Hadley (7). Congratulations to our winners and thank you as ever to all those who are supporting the 100 Club. If you would like to join the club in readiness for the November draw there are still numbers available. All prizes in December are double value!

Already the Club has enabled a much need heater to be purchased for the church.

Friday 2^nd October

5.00pm 100 Club Draw

On the green at Lincoln Fields. Another £100 in prizes to be won, (if you have bought a ticket…)

Sunday 11^th October

6.00pm; Remembering World War 2

To mark the 80^th anniversary of the ending of the Second World War and to give thanks for the sacrifice of those who took part, we hear words of those who took part, music and reflections

Sunday 25^th October

8.00am Billingsley Church: Holy Communion

David Poyner, assistant curate, Severn Valley Benefice.   Tel 01562 68638, email D.R.Poyner@aston.ac.uk

Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BillingsleyChurch/  or our websites, www.st-marys-billingsley.org.uk ,  https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/10415/  (Billingsley) https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/10533/ (Glazeley)

Dear All,

Details of events this coming week are below: all are welcome! Please pass these invitations on to anyone who you think might be interested.

1) Wednesday evening catch-up

Sept 16th, 2020 07:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3592851895?pwd=cksyL0t5TlhFUURRenpxMG9yQTVhUT09

Meeting ID: 359 285 1895

2) Friday Morning Prayer, 9.00am

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3592851895?pwd=cksyL0t5TlhFUURRenpxMG9yQTVhUT09

Meeting ID: 359 285 1895

3) Friday night prayer

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Meeting ID: 359 285 1895

For me, this has been a busy week. I work at Aston University, on Monday the new term starts and our students have been arriving over the past few days. On Friday I met my new tutees; the students who have just arrived and for whom I will have pastoral responsibility over their time with us. Of course, this will be a year like no other, but some things were familiar. Every time I do this, I’m taken back to when I was a newly-arrived student, meeting my tutor for the very first time. That was now over forty years ago (!), but the memory remains fresh. The emotions are still vivid; a mixture of excitement, apprehension and uncertainty; perhaps really a dash of fear. I was now entering a new phase of my life; what would the future hold? And, so imperfectly over a computer screen, as I spoke with my new students and listened to their questions, I sensed at least some of them were having exactly the same emotions.

The truth is that every moment of our lives, we are facing the future. Often it is very predictable but we can never be sure what opportunities and challenges will face us. Occasionally we are particularly aware that we are moving to a new phase of our lives, but those moments only happen because of a host of decisions we have taken earlier and events that have happened to us.

As a vicar, I start my day by saying Morning Prayer, a short service available online (https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/join-us-service-daily-prayer) . I do it because it grounds me at the start of the day; it reminds me of who I am and what I should be. Almost at the start of this service are the words “The night has passed, and the day lies open before us; let us pray with one heart and mind.” I love that phrase; the first part reminds me that no matter how routine I expect the day to be, it has potential. The is double-edged, potential for things to go well or to go badly. That is where the second part comes in; whatever happens, I will face that day with God.

Following the harvest festival service held on Sunday 13th September St Mary’s, Billingsley has made a donation, from the service collection, of £60 to the charity ‘Mary’s Meals’. This very worthwhile charity provides a healthy, balanced meal to thousands of children in deprived areas of the world each day. The meals are served at schools which not only assists the physical development and nourishment of the youngsters but also encourages regularly attendance at school which has long term benefits for future of the children, their families and the communities in which they live.

Here is the letter of thanks received from Mary’s Meal for our donation;

Dear Friends

Thank you so much for your donation of £60.00 to Mary’s Meals, which will be used to provide life-changing meals for children in their place of education.

Supporting our school feeding programmes is a great way of helping hungry children to learn and giving them the best chance of a future free from poverty.

The daily meals we provide are enabling thousands of children to attend school and work towards their dreams. Children such as 14-year-old Chimza Harry, who attends Mwalamba Primary School in Malawi.

Chimza – whose full name, Chimwemwe, means joy – lives at home with his mother Lucia and three siblings. The family ran out of food stores soon after last year’s harvest, having only managed to grow one bag of maize.

He said: “I feel weak in the mornings when I walk to school. I feel lethargic, but I am excited to go to school because I will eat here, and learn.”

Chimza is top of his class and has been every year since he started school.  However, as the eldest male living in the household, he feels duty-bound to help support the family and is adamant that he would not be at school if it weren’t for the phala (porridge).

“When I eat the phala I get the strength to eat, study, walk home, and work.”

“If there was no phala, I would have left school, because I know when I am hungry I cannot listen properly, I cannot learn. I would like to finish my education and become a doctor. I would like to help my people – the people around my village – to see a doctor in hospital faster.”

Chimza’s academic achievements show he is right to be ambitious. Thanks to your generosity, he and thousands more children have the chance to realise their dreams. On behalf of the 1,667,067 children who currently receive Mary’s Meals, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Yours sincerely,

Daniel Adams

Executive Director, Mary’s Meals UK

Above are a few photos that show the wonderful decorations and floral tributes that were organised by Mary and Ellen, we thank you both. The church looked splendid! All produce collected before and during the services was donated to Bridgnorth Food Bank to help those in need closer to home.

Take a look at the website of Mary’s Meal for more information about the work of the charity at https://www.marysmeals.org.uk/useful-links/about-marys-meals/

In praise of spontaneity

The day dawns fine and clear. Unexpectedly, there is a window in my diary; the expected work has not yet materialised. I have a day of freedom!

A few months ago, there were endless opportunities when this happened. I do recall some years ago when the trains were in chaos with the line to Birmingham likely to be blocked for hours. What happened immediately after the “abandon hope all ye who enter here” announcement on the station is still mysterious to me; the next thing I remember was pulling on my walking boots at the foot of Tryfan, a mountain in Snowdonia and having a very enjoyable day on the hills.

One of the less remarked effect of Covid is that our ability to opt for leisure activities on the spur of the moment have been significantly curtailed. With the easing of lockdown (for the moment!), a day in the hills is now possible. However, a trip to a museum is now much harder, with most establishments requiring advanced booking. Of course, it is just a minor irritation, but it does remind me of a lost freedom.

Spontaneity can be a great joy; it opens up a world of unexpected opportunities and pleasures. It allows us to delight in the world, to experience joy in ways we never imagined. Jesus spoke of how the wind, that is the Holy Spirit, blows where it will; I think by that he was telling us that God also acts on the spur of the moment, in ways which we cannot imagine. Whilst some of our spontaneity has, currently, to be restricted we should still treasure what we have and expect to see God at work in the unplanned.