You may be aware that over the past few years the Church of England has been engaging with a project entitled Living in Love and Faith which has explored the subject of sexuality.

I was involved personally by leading, with another clergy colleague, a 5-week course looking at Christian teaching and learning about identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage. Several people from the Parish of Horndon, Orsett and Bulphan attended this course. The sessions included a time of watching videos where people of varying sexual orientations and genders shared something of their life stories and their faith. This was followed by discussion and prayer.

The purpose of this course was both to promote better understanding between people of different sexualities and differing theological viewpoints and to help the General Synod (the Church of England Governing Body) to make a decision regarding same sex marriage within the church. I think it is fair to say that nearly everyone who attended the course found it to be a positive experience.

Recently, many of you will have read in the news that the Church of England is proposing to bless same sex partnerships in the future, a decision conditional upon this proposal receiving a majority vote at General Synod in February.

I  will be able to give you further details about this in March after the General Synod has met.

But I felt it important, at this time, to reassure you that everyone is welcome at our three parish churches.

“We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, widowed, straight, gay, confused, well-heeled or down at heel. We especially welcome wailing babies and excited toddlers.

We welcome you whether you can sing like Pavarotti or just growl quietly to yourself. You’re welcome here if you’re just ‘browsing’, just woken up or just got out of prison. We don’t care if you’re more Christian than the Archbishop of Canterbury or haven’t been to church since Christmas ten years ago.

We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet and to teenagers who are growing up too fast.

We welcome keep-fit parents, football fanatics, starving artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers, vegetarians and junk food eaters. We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted. We welcome you if you’re having problems, are down in the dumps or don’t like ‘organised religion’

We offer a warm welcome to those who think the earth is flat, work too hard, can’t spell or are here because granny is visiting and wanted to come to church.

We welcome those who are inked, pierced, both or neither. We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, had religion shoved down their throat as kids or got lost  with a dodgy satnav and wound up here by mistake.

We welcome pilgrims, tourists, seekers, doubters…and you! “

Seen at Coventry Cathedral

And in the words of a song we often sing: ‘All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.’

With love and prayers,

Sue

Rector’s Reflections

One of the privileges for me, over the Christmas period, was to hear a beautiful song sung by children in our schools.

Some of the words are:

If a wise man knows where the Saviour’s born,

guided by a shining star

to the world he shows why he came so far

understanding who you are

What can I bring, what can I sing

to honour you my friend and king?

Who can describe this love of mine

the holy Saviour so divine?

When a child is born and the reason why

is to love this broken world,

how can I repay? Can the only way

be to love him in return?

Taken from ‘What can I bring’ from ISing Christmas

These words are particularly appropriate in the season of Epiphany which we celebrate this month, marking the visit of the Wise Men, or Magi, to Jesus. We often see images of three of them, although we don’t actually know how many of them there were. The number three probably corresponds with the number of gifts which were, of course, gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Gold represented kingship, frankincense – worship and myrrh – death and dying; a foretaste of what was to come. Needless to say, these would all have been very expensive gifts.

I don’t know about you, but as we start a new year, I often set many resolutions only to find that halfway through the first month I have failed in at least half of them.

This year, instead of creating a huge, long list, it is my plan simply to ask God in my prayer time each morning, ‘What can I bring to honour you?’ We all know that the best gift we can give anyone is love, and our relationship with God is no different, so really, in saying those words, I will be asking God how best I can love him.

Love sometimes requires sacrifices and our love for God is no different. This means when we follow God, we are sometimes called to make difficult choices, to say no to things we have previously done or to commit to taking on something new. The book of Hebrews in the Bible is written for Christians who are being persecuted for their faith. We don’t know who wrote it, but it urges them on in their faith, listing heroes of faith in the past, describing them as a ‘great cloud of witnesses’ and at the end of the letter, the Christians are reassured by the words of Jesus, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’

This year, I encourage you to step out in faith and ask Jesus what you can bring to honour him. Love takes many forms but it is my firm belief that we all have something to offer and that following Jesus is the most exciting things we can ever do.

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Take care and God bless,

Sue

Following the celebration of All Saints and All Souls, followed by Remembrance and then Christ the King, we are now in Advent, the period of waiting and anticipation as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, later in the month.

Every year, for the past few years, the Church of England has provided some useful resources to help us to reflect on the meaning of Christmas. These resources come under the umbrella, ‘Follow the Star.’ This year, the focus is ‘The Great Invitation,’ the purpose of which is ‘encouraging everyone to share the joy of gathering together to celebrate the birth of Jesus with their family, friends and neighbours-especially after two years where this has been impossible for many.’ (C of E Website)

Follow the Star: The Great Invitation consists of 12 reflections from a range of authors who will share personal stories exploring themes of invitation. These reflections will be starting on Christmas Eve and continuing daily (Monday to Saturday) until the Epiphany (6 January) and are designed to help us all make space to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas. On each of the 12 days, a different contributor will share something that speaks of a Christmas invitation for them, bringing the theme to life through a mixture of personal story, Bible reading, reflection and challenge.

These reflections will be made available freely via:

• email
• audio
• app with accompanying resources for children and families

You will find more information about these and other Christmas resources by going to https://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/advent-and-christmas-2022

I have also ordered some of these reflections in booklet form for those of you without access to technology, including a few large print versions for anyone who would find this helpful. If you would like one of these, they will be available at the back of all three churches. Any donation towards the cost of a booklet would be greatly appreciated.

I encourage you to invite your neighbours and members of your local community to one of our in-person gatherings this Christmas, to hear the Christmas story and be welcomed into the love of Jesus. We have a variety of services both in church and at other local venues including The Swan Pub in Horndon, The Foxhound Pub in Orsett and another drive-in service at Arden Hall Farm in Horndon. Everyone is most welcome at any or all of the services. Please keep an eye on the posters for details.

I wish you all a blessed and peaceful Christmas.

With love and prayers,

Sue

Thank you to everyone who donated food for the foodbank at Harvest time. As a result of your generosity, we were able to take 396 kgs of food to the Foodbank to help those who are struggling financially at this time. Thank you, also, to those who decorated the churches so beautifully and to the farmers who provided seeds and wheat to display in our churches, and to those who provided refreshments after our Harvest services.

We know that this winter is not going to be easy for many people so, if you are able to continue supporting the Foodbank do remember that we have collection points for food in all three villages.  

Over the past few weeks, we have also been doing an Alpha Course at the Woolmarket in Horndon. The course is due to finish in mid-November. I would like to thank all those who have made running this course possible.

The Alpha Course is designed to help people understand more about what it means to follow Jesus. It began in 1977 at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton and by 2017, over 26,000,000 people had tried Alpha in 100 countries and in over 100 languages and the number has increased since then.

Each Alpha session begins with cake and refreshments followed by a video and then we split into small groups for an informal discussion.

 At each Alpha Course, the following topics are covered:

• Is there more to life than this?
• Who is Jesus
• Why did Jesus die?
• How can I have faith?
• Why and how do I pray?
• Why and how should I read the Bible?
• How does God guide us?
• Who is the Holy Spirit?
• What does the Holy Spirit do?
• How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit?
• How can I make the most of the rest of my life?
• How can I resist evil?
• Why and how should I tell others?
• Does God heal today?
• What about the Church?

Our course included a special day at Mulberry House, Essex in October.

It always is a privilege to walk alongside people on their faith journeys.

If you think you might be interested in attending an Alpha Course in the future, please do let me know.

I look forward to seeing you soon. Don’t forget our Remembrance Services on 12^th and 13^th November.

Take care and God bless,

Sue

Following the sad death of Queen Elizabeth II, I would like to thank everyone who has worked hard, to ring the bells and to open the churches for people to come and say prayers, light a candle or sign a book of condolence.

During the period of mourning, we held services of prayer and thanksgiving for the life of the Queen during which, together, we considered,

• What stands out in our memories about The Queen?
• What we will always remember about her?
• What we learned through her life and death, including about God in Jesus Christ?

I reflected that the things for me that most stand out and which I will always remember about Queen Elizabeth II are her loyalty, her servanthood and her faith.

We have all heard those words which she spoke  on her 21^st Birthday, when she said:

‘I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family, to which we all belong.’

She honoured that commitment until her dying day. And people respect her for that; for her integrity and loyalty.

Queen Elizabeth was a Christian. And I believe that her reign was a success because it was underpinned by her deep faith in God. She knew who was Lord of her life, who was sovereign and ruler of all. She knew who to thank, who to turn to for guidance and who was her strength when things got tough.

It was so moving to see the thousands of people drawn to London to pay their respects and lay flowers, after which they returned home to continue with their everyday lives and the Royal family were afforded some space to grieve in private.

Of course, most of the beautiful floral tributes will have, by now, withered but memories of the much-loved Queen will live on and be passed down through the generations. It is my prayer that through the Queen’s life and death, people will be pointed to the one under whom she served and the one who reigns over all, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Because Jesus Christ, lives on for eternity and is there for each one of us, just  as he was for the Queen and will be for King Charles and future monarchs. He is there for all, whatever our personal circumstances or social class.

The Queen unfailingly honoured her commitment to devote her whole life to the service of her people. When we become Christians, we make a commitment to follow Jesus Christ, the greatest servant of all, and it is certainly my prayer that my commitment to Jesus Christ will be as honourable as her late Majesty’s was to God and to us.

With love and prayers,

Sue