Dear All,
When I typed ‘Letter 13’ into my computer to save these words, I realised how long we have been separated from each other in a physical sense but, friends, thanks to all your care and concern for each other, the community spirit here in Orsett, Bulphan and Horndon-on-the-Hill, is very much alive.
We are approaching Trinity Sunday and I do hope that those of you with access to a computer will be able to join our Sunday worship at 10am at hobnob.org.uk/watch And, if you can’t get to a computer, maybe you could try to pray with us at the same time, knowing that we are praying with and for you and sharing the peace with you.
Did you know that the feast of Trinity Sunday began in England. Thomas Beckett, the martyr Archbishop of Canterbury first started celebrating the Sunday after Pentecost as Trinity Sunday 900 years ago, and it rapidly became popular across the Christian world. You may like to ponder the thinking of a couple of Christian thinkers with differing views on the subject:
- Basil of Caesarea, made the point that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not three names for different parts of God but a single name for God.
- John Stott, the great evangelical, said that anything we say of one member of the Trinity, we must say of all.
This Sunday we will be reflecting on the outpouring of love and grace from the unity of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, at a time when the murder of George Floyd has sparked much unrest and protest, not only in the United States, but across the world. In the light of the statistics surrounding, not only this case but other similar incidents, I believe we, as Christians, are called to acknowledge that we still live in a society where institutional inequalities exist. Part of this call is to consider, prayerfully, what our response, both as individuals and as a Church should be, and to recognise, repent of and correct any bias, whether conscious or unconscious, remembering that each one of us is made in the image of God. You may find the prayer below, produced by the Church of England, in response to this recent global outpouring and the problems it has highlighted, helpful. It is a prayer we will be using during our service on Sunday.
God of justice,
In your wisdom you create all people in your image, without exception.
Open our eyes
to see the dignity, beauty, and worth of every human being.
Open our minds
to do the hard work of learning what racism is, and is in us.
Open our hearts
to repent of attitudes, behaviours, and speech which demean others.
Open our ears
to hear the cries of those wounded by discrimination.
Fill us with courage that we might seek to heal wounds, build bridges, forgive and be forgiven, and establish peace and equality for all in our communities.
In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen.
Your outpouring of love continues through the donations for the foodbank and thank you for your faithful commitment to this. The needs for the coming week are squash/cordial, chicken in sauce, bolognaise, ravioli, sausages in baked beans and jelly. The foodbank also have an ongoing need for toiletries and large size nappies (4,5,6).
With regard to worship, the Lectionary Readings for Morning and Night Prayer in the coming week are:
| Day | Morning Prayer | Evening Prayer |
| Monday 8th June Thomas Ken | Joshua 7 1-15 Luke 10 25-37 | Job 7 Romans 4 1-12 |
| Tuesday 9th June Columba | Joshua 7 16-end Luke 10 38-end | Job 8 Romans 4 13-end |
| Wednesday 10th June | Joshua 8 1-29 Luke 11 1-13 | Job 9 Romans 5:1-11 |
| Thursday 11th June St Barnabas | Jeremiah 9 23-24 Acts 4 32-end | Ecclesiastes 12 9-end Acts 9 26-31 |
| Friday 12th June | Joshua 9 3-36 Luke 11 29-36 | Job 11 Romans 6 1-14 |
Please continue to pray for those who have recently been bereaved, whose grief has been magnified by the restrictions of the lockdown. Please also keep Rose, Anita, Nicola, Joyce, Hazel, Dave, Steve, Steve, Steve, Dave and Frank in your prayers. I am not including surnames in these letters for reasons of confidentiality but, even if you don’t know some of these people or their circumstances, please do pray for each of them with the confidence and reassurance that they are all known to God.
As soon as I hear any more about how and when we can return to meeting again for church services, I will let you know but, in the meantime, please be assured of my prayers for you and do let me know of any prayer or pastoral needs.
Take care and God bless,
Sue