St Alkmund s

DuffieldParish Magazine

April 2020

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CHURCH OFFICIALS, ADDRESSES AND TELEPHONE NUMBERS

Vicar: Revd Dr James HughesThe Vicarage, Vicarage Lane, Duffield. Telephone 841867

Trainee Minister: James RollinTelephone: 07485 027171

Reader: Churchwarden: Richard Lindop Paul Linford 98 Eaton Bank, Duffield 152 Over Lane, Belper Telephone 840282 Telephone 01773 821853

CHURCH SECRETARIES: Emma Rollin & Diane Whiteside ...................................07961 891168

HON. SECRETARY P.C.C.: Marion Taulbut ....................................................................... 840677

HON. TREASURER P.C.C.: Nick Peacock........................................................................... 840935

HON. PARISH MAGAZINE EDITOR: Jeffrey Taplin............................................................. 842665

YOUTH & CHILDREN’S WORKER: Helen Hawley............................................................. 840536

MUSIC & WORSHIP GROUP LEADER: Fiona Lindop........................................................... 840282

TOWER SECRETARY: Luke Heaton..................................................................................... 841054

PARISH SAFEGUARDING OFFICERS: Paul and Gill Linford.......................................07486 560657

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St Alkmund’s Church Office, Church Drive, Duffield, Belper DE56 4BA. 07961 891168

e: office@stalkmundsduffield.co.uk www.stalkmundsduffield.co.uk

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Duffield Parish Magazine e: duffieldparishmag@gmail.com

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Dear Friends,As I write this, we are in the first few

days of the latest restrictions on move-ment related to Covid-19—by the time youread this, the situation may have changedagain. Either way, we are in unprecedent-ed times, certainly in my lifetime. We’venever had to close the church before andcease doing Sunday services.

So, what do we do in response to thiscrisis?

There are of course certain practicalsteps we can take. Whether that is in termsof hand washing, or obeying therestrictions on movement, or gettinginvolved in various things to help othersout in our village, there are things we cando. And it has been encouraging to hear ofthe things that are already going on. Ofcourse, we might be here for the long haul,and so we will need to be persistent in ourefforts to help others.

Also, on a practical note, we have movedour Church services online. We are now theproud owners (!) of a United BeneficeYouTube channel. You can access it athttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTHC9LYm7oj-O7JlJnTtBAw and we will beputting up a service every Sunday morningand afternoon, as well as some othercontent through the week. Do ‘join’ usthere. Also, if you would like to be kept in

touch with what is happening at themoment, do keep an eye on our Facebookpage (and/or Twitter), and email theoffice—office@stalkmundsduffield.co.ukand ask to be added to our email list.

None of this replaces the face-to-facecontact we normally enjoy, but we dowhat we can in the present situation.

Finally, it may be that another thing wecan do is to take some time to reflect.Many of us are self-isolating, or shielding,or otherwise restricting our socialinteractions. Many of us are not able towork, or don’t have as much to do. Wemay have a bit more time to think. Andthat time, where we are perhaps moreconscious of the frailty of human life thanwe normally are, let me offer to you somewords from the beginning of Psalm 46:

God is our refuge and strength, a verypresent help in trouble. Therefore we willnot fear though the earth gives way,though the mountains be moved into theheart of the sea, though its waters roar andfoam, though the mountains tremble at itsswelling. (Psalm 46 verses 1–3, esv)

The Psalmist calls us to reflect on whoGod is, always reliable however much theworld around us changes. Join us online aswe continue to explore that truth over thecoming weeks.

Yours in Christ,

The Vicar’s Letter

James Hughes

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Apr il 2020 5

Online Services

For further details visit our YouTube channelat

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTHC9LYm7oj-O7JlJnTtBAw

Or access our social media websites atwww.stalkmundsduffield.co.uk or www.littleeatonchurch.co.uk

Facebook:St Alkmund’s Church Duffield or St Paul’s Church Little Eaton

Twitter: @StAlksDuffield

Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/st-alkmund

Bible VersesI am not ashamed of the gospel because it

is the power of God for the salvation ofeveryone who believes. Romans 1:16

Jesus said, ‘Come to me all ye who areweary and burdened and I will give yourest’. Matthew 11:28

Father not my will but yours be done.Luke 22:42

All the forces of darkness cannot stopwhat God has ordained. Isaiah 14:27

Whatever you do, do it all for the glory ofGod. 1 Corinthians 10:31

No matter what you are facing today re-member Deuteronomy 20:4: ‘The LORDyour God is the one who goes withyou, to fight for you against yourenemies, to give you victory!’

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#wheresthebear?

Where’s the Bear?Well done to all of you who figured out whereAlkmund was last month! He was having a quietmoment by the river, sitting on the walkway overthe River Ecclesbourne in Duffield, where heenjoyed a picnic lunch – like his friend PaddingtonBear, Alkmund really likes marmalade sandwiches!

Alkmund hasn’t been out on his usual travels this month though, ashe’s been following the advice to stay safe and make sure he keepswashing his paws properly. The only problem is, all that gloopy handsoap and hand sanitiser does rather stick to his fur!

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EASTER EVENTS

Easter. What’s it all about then?What sort of things immediately

come to your mind when Easter ismentioned? Possibly Easter Eggs andfluffy chicks or Easter Bunnies? MaybeHot Cross Buns? Perhaps Spring flow-ers, such as Daffodils, or gambollingspring lambs? Or maybe even a niceSunday roast leg of lamb?

Christians believe that Easter is allabout the Lord Jesus Christ and whatHe has done for us.

Firstly, how on Good Friday, Jesusdied on a cross on our behalf, takingthe punishment we rightly deserve forall of the things that we do wrong;what the Bible calls ‘sin’. Sin can besummarised as ignoring God, andignoring his commands or laws andreplacing God with other things—seek-ing after and worshipping such things(maybe money, power, status, posses-sions, etc, etc) instead of God; wor-shipping that which is created, not theCreator.

Secondly, how on Easter SundayJesus was raised to life; how He rosefrom the grave and His disciplesfound His tomb empty. The physicalresurrection of Jesus demonstratesthat His death on the cross for our sin‘worked’; that Jesus has defeated thepower of sin and death.

By putting our trust in Jesus, we canreceive salvation and forgiveness forsin. Through Jesus we can be recon-ciled with God, have a restored

relationship with Him and one day thepromise of everlasting life with God ineternity. In a nutshell, Easter is the‘good news’ of the Gospel—every-thing that God has done for usthrough Jesus and His death andresurrection.

And we want to welcome everyoneto hear this ‘good news’. As weapproach Easter, we will be reflectingon the Easter story; do keep an eye onour new YouTube channel for ourUnited Benefice of Duffield and LittleEaton, and/or our social media (Face-book. LinkedIn, Twitter) sites.

James Rollin

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‘Monday to Friday Living’

Born in Liverpool, I grew up inKenilworth in Warwickshire,

where my family moved when I wasfive. My parents went to church and Iattended Sunday school whilst I waslittle, but (like many) drifted awayfrom church as I grew up. As a teen-ager, I was invited to a ChristianYouth Club by a good friend and itwas through getting involved withthis that I rediscovered Christianity,eventually coming to faith whilst aSixth-Former at school.

I can pinpoint precisely when andwhere I first became a Christian; theexact point where I heard the Gospelproperly for the first time and it allclicked into place. During a Christ-mas Eve Midnight Carol Service(which I’d ironically attended almostas an afterthought, on my way homefrom the pub!), I had a real “seeingthe light moment”. Suddenly Igrasped that because of God’s lovefor us, he sent His Son Jesus to diefor us, as a free gift of Grace and thatthere’s nothing one can, or has, to do

but believe andaccept the Gospel; the ‘good news’of Jesus.

From that moment on, everything—from reading the Bible, to sharingin Christian fellowship and praying—all became much more real. TrustingGod in all areas of my life began, evenas a very new Christian; togetherwith knowing God’s with me throughlife, throughout all the many ups anddowns and stresses and strains; totrust Him in these.

As a Christian, I’ve really seen Godat work in my life over the years. Forexample, I’d intended to go to Uni-versity in Bristol, but (having ratherflunked my ‘A’-Levels) ended up atSheffield instead. However, it wasthere at the end of my 4th year that Imet my wife Miranda, and whilst atSheffield, I also attended ChristChurch Fulwood, led at the time byPhilip Hacking, which was a real timeof growth in my Christian faith.

Sheffield was also the place where Iknew God really wanted me working

Dave Clark reflects on how he lives out his faith day byday, how God’s been at work in his life over the yearsand how for him the fellowship of a local church is one ofthe most important aspects of being a Christian.

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in medicine. I became interested inOrthopaedics whilst at Universityand also did an Elective in India forthree months with the ChristianCharity Tearfund, where I assistedwith operations as a medical studentand ‘got the bug’ for undertakingsurgery. Today I’m a shoulder Sur-geon at Derby Hospital and haveworked as a Consultant for 20 years.The ability of the human body to healand recover is an amazing thingGod’s given us, together with ourability to understand science; in mycase Orthopaedics.

For me, the Christian fellowship ofa local church is one of the most im-portant aspects of my faith. Althoughwe’ve now lived in Duffield andattended St Alkmund’s for 20 years,we moved many times during myearly career, including a year in NewZealand (where Miranda’s from)whilst I was training, but we’vealways managed to draw on thesupport of good local churches.Including of course, St Alkmund’s,where I’ve assisted the youth workover the years and benefited fromthings such as the men’s studygroup, not to mention the love andsupport of our church family duringvery difficult times, including thebirth of our three children (each onebeing quite dramatic) and during my

father’s long battle with dementia.As a Christian, one of the ways my

faith is lived out is seeking to recog-nise the ‘bigger picture’ and trying tosee a different perspective. Thatwork’s not the “be-all-and-end-all” inlife—although work can at times beall-consuming—God, family and thenwork are my priorities. Though I’ll bethe very first to admit I don’t alwaysget the balance right!

Being a Christian in the PublicSector can be a challenge, but I seekto put my faith in action as I’m con-stantly dealing with lots of people inmy profession; various colleaguesand many different patients. I hadgreat training in dealing with patientsfrom a Consultant colleague, plus theChristian Surgeon Peter Lunn was agreat Mentor in my early career, andI seek to follow their example in mycontact with people. I ask God forHis help, such that my daily interac-tions might be one of those “littlethings that make a difference”.

In my spare time, I’m a bit of asports fanatic, from playing hockey,walking and skiing, to following theEngland cricket and rugby teams.Not to mention following my favour-ite football club Liverpool—needlessto say, that’s proved particularlyenjoyable this season!!

• • •

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Only ConnectHere are the answers from last month’s ONLY CONNECT challenge.

1. AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW2. GOD IS WORKING HIS PURPOSE OUT3. DEAR LORD AND FATHER OF MANKIND4. PRAISE MY SOUL THE KING OF HEAVEN5. WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS6. THE LORD’S MY SHEPHERD7. COME LET US SING OF A WONDERFUL LOVE8. AND CAN IT BE9. LEANING ON THE EVERLASTING ARMS10. ALL HAIL THE POWER OF JESUS’ NAMEAnd the longest word in the English language which has no vowels and canbe used in the game of SCRABBLE is . . .

Unless you know another of course!

Mike Severn

rhythms

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Youth and Children

Just a few weeks ago, we had our annual youth weekend away at the Peak Centrein Edale, where seventeen young people and seven leaders spent time together

having fun and learning about the cross and resurrection.

The theme of the weekend was “Happily Ever After?”, which meant we spent plentyof time playing games based on well-known fairy tales, and dressed up as some ofour favourite characters.

During our Bible time, we looked at what was going on at the cross for God andhumanity, and what the resurrection really means for us today. Jesus went throughso much physical and Spiritual suffering at the cross to win us a happily-ever-afterwhich was all part of God’s great plan for the world. At the cross God dealt with oursin once and for all, taking our place and breaking his own heart so that we can enjoythe deep joy and love that he has had for all eternity in the Trinity, by making us hischildren. All we have to do is repent and believe. He did everything else for us. Duringthe weekend we were able to spend some time reflecting on this incredible act of loveand to think about our response to it.

Here’severyoneonFridayeveningembracingthetheme!

By Helen Hawley

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Friday night’s fairy talemadness of porridge tasting,searching for magical beans,and sleeping beauticiansactivities.

Photo: I. Robinson

The walk

Dragons and castles quest.(Castles were built fromsalvaged materials, neededto hold all the builders andwithstand various fairytale-themed attacks.)

The leaders

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A Praying Life by Paul E. MillerNavPress 2017

During Lent I have chosen to review abook on prayer: A Praying Life, by

Paul E. Miller. This is a challenging book,which combines simplicity with a direct-ness that gets right to the heart. It is aimedat Christians, but I think many other peo-ple would find it an instructive, challengingand heartfelt book.

This month marks the 50th anniversaryof Simon and Garfunkel’s album BridgeOver Troubled Water. When Art Garfunkelwas having great difficulty recording thefirst verse of the title track, over lunch-time he went into a church, and foundhimself praying for a good recording.“That afternoon,” he said, “I got lucky.”

Think about that: He prayed, and thenhe got lucky? Was he lucky, or had Godanswered his prayer? People pray, andthings happen. Some people might saythey “get lucky”. Christians call it“answered prayer”. But people also pray,and seem not to get an answer. Millertackles this in detail in the third part of thebook.

How do you pray? How should wepray?

Prayer is … “nothing but talking toGod.” God wants to hear us. In a famousverse from the Bible (Rev 3:20), he says,“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Ifanyone hears my voice and opens thedoor, I will come in to him and eat withhim and he with me.” God wants us to talkto him as loving parents love to hear theirchildren open their hearts to them. “Manypeople struggle to learn how to praybecause they are focusing on praying, noton God …”

In preparation for this review, I havebeen working through A Praying Life. WhatI did not expect was the emotional impactof this book, which is richly blessed withpersonal stories, especially related to hisautistic daughter Kim. Time and again theauthor and his wife pray for their daugh-ter, and the prayers are answered, but intotally unexpected ways, both challengingand enriching. Their prayer for her to talktook 25 years to be answered. I was verymoved by their faith, and the challenge toopen ourselves to direct and childlikeprayer.

Have you talked to God about what youreally want? Not because you think it iswhat God wants to hear, but like a child,saying just what you want, approachingGod like a small child approaching Mum orDad and expecting to be heard? If youhave children, you will know that you donot always answer “yes” to the directquestion, but you hear the request anddeal with it in an appropriate and lovingway.

I was especially challenged by Part 3,“Learning to ask your father.” One keypoint is that we do not ask! We decidethat what we want to ask for doesn’t feelright, so we try to find a way to do it with-out asking God, and cut Him out of the

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loop. Instead of which we should all themore bring our requests not only to God,but also in to our close friends, who canbring their wisdom to the prayer requests.

Some of what Miller has to say is pain-fully direct: “If you pray for humility,expect to be humbled.” I experienced thisas a young man: I needed the correction,but I did not enjoy the experience!

What do I lose when I have a prayinglife? Control, and independence.

What do I gain? Friendship with God, aquiet heart. The loving work of God in thehearts of those I love.

Miller goes into depth on why prayersappear not to get answered; all of us findthis very difficult. Sometimes, we don’teven ask! But do we get impatient? As hesays “Our ‘prayer doesn’t work’ oftenmeans, ‘you didn’t do my will, in my way,in my time.’” On unanswered prayer,Miller talks about the importance of the

“desert experience.” When we don’treceive what we pray for or desire, itdoesn’t mean that God isn’t acting on ourbehalf; it will take time for us to learnwhat God has to teach us.

In the final section of the book Millertalks in practical ways of how to organiseour prayer. He uses prayer cards—astraightforward way to arrange ourprayers into a regular way, more flexiblythan a simple list. I intend to try this, andmay have the opportunity to provide anupdate on another occasion!

This is a challenging book: but anythingtruly worthwhile is challenging.—Footnote:Paul E. Miller leads a mission society calledseeJesus, “a global discipling mission helpingthe church see and reflect the life, death andresurrection of Christ through discipleshipresources and training.”

Andrew Jackson

Ted and Rachel WattsServing at the Good NewsHospital, Mandritsara,Madagascar

We’re Ted and Rachel Watts and it istwo years ago this month that we

arrived in Mandritsara in northern Mada-gascar so it feels like an appropriatemoment for an update! We are so thankfulfor our partnership with St Alkmund’s,Duffield and for your ongoing support forthe work of the Good News Hospitalhere. It was great to catch up with many ofyou during our home assignment last year,but for those who don’t know us, we’d liketo introduce ourselves and what we’re upto.

The Good News Hospital is part of aproject which started 25 years ago withthe aim of bringing gospel hope and com-passionate medical care to people in theMandritsara region. Madagascar is one ofthe poorest countries in the world, with92% of the population living on less than$1.90 per day. The majority of people livein isolated rural communities and accessto medical care is poor. People may comefrom several days walk in order to receive

care here—the nearest hospital providingany surgical services is 200 km away.

We are both doctors (Ted is a surgeonand Rachel is a paediatrician) and we havetwo boys aged five and three. Ted firstvisited Mandritsara as a medical studentback in 2004 and since that time we haveseen and felt God at work calling us backto serve here. After language study inFrance and in Madagascar’s capital wemoved to Mandritsara to work at theGood News Hospital, a Christian missionhospital offering medical, surgical, obstet-ric and eye services to a district of around250,000 people.

We’re conscious that at the momenthealth and healthcare are very much inpeople’s minds. At the time of writing thisarticle, Madagascar has yet to report anycases of coronavirus, but it is easy to seehow the healthcare system of a countrywith very limited resources could be over-whelmed. During our time here Madagas-car has seen significant outbreaks of plagueand then measles. However, at present,the main challenges here are those diseas-es which kill so many across the worldevery day but which receive little atten-tion, such as malaria or schistosomiasis—treatable diseases which cause hundreds

of thousands of deaths worldwide eachyear. We also see lots of malnutrition,which affects almost half of children underfive in Madagascar, and complications ofpregnancy and childbirth which would beeasily treated in the UK but which havedevastating consequences here.

Even though coronavirus hasn’t reachedMadagascar as yet, as a team we are feelingits effects. We and other team membershave had to reconsider plans for a break inour home countries, and we are facing theprospect of future volunteers being unableto come. The impact is significant as weare currently a small team, and are alreadyfeeling stretched. Life here in Madagascaris always full of uncertainty, and it feels asthough the whole world is experiencingsomething of that right now.

However, in the midst of such uncer-tainty, we know that God’s loving care forus is sure and certain. We trust his sover-eign rule and know that he is working allthings for our good. In our little churchhere we often sing Psalm 121, the firstverses of which are “I lift up my eyes to

the mountains—where does my helpcome from? My help comes from theLORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”Mandritsara is surrounded by hills and it isgreat to be able to look up to them and bereminded that our help comes from theLORD. He made all things, he knows allthings and he cares for every one of hischildren.

If you would like to know more aboutus or the work of the Good News Hospi-tal, or if you would like to receive updatesby email or WhatsApp to let you knowhow you can be praying for us, please con-tact us at wattsinmadagascar@gmail.com.

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