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Trinity Sunday, 7th June 2020
From the clergy...Dear all,
Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday, the great feast which ends the run of intense liturgical festivals that have taken us from Ash Wednesday, through Lent, Passiontide, Holy Week, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost. Phew!
Through these rapidly shifting seasons, the church has invited us once again to reflect more deeply on who God is, and how we relate to Them, and to the salvation which reaches out to us from the joint work of the Creator, the Son, and the Spirit. Now, at long last, we get to rest and watch these reflections bear fruit over the long season of ordinary time which stretches away from us like a long summer day, all the way until All Saints' and All Souls' in November. For the rest of the year, we simply have to enjoy living with the God who is alongside us in the extra-ordinary ordinariness of our lives – and with everything else going on, perhaps that comes as a bit of a relief.
Last Sunday at St John's, we were absolutely delighted to see so many people joining us for our Pentecost Party via Zoom – thank you to everyone who braved the technology to make for such a special day 'together'! If you missed the Pentecost Party, though, don't worry: we will be organising another virtual coffee morning in the next few weeks, and our planned quiz night for Saturday 20th June is of course fast approaching, too. As ever, if you have any worries about the technology we are using, or any problems, don't hesitate to call one of us so that we can attempt to walk you through it.
For now, enjoy watching Spring ease into Summer (although it seems like April and June have switched places this year, as we enjoy some much needed, but unseasonal showers!), and continue to stay safe and well.
With our love and prayers,
Rev Helen and Rev Lyndon
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WorshipYou can view this Sunday's service of the word here: https://youtu.be/7smHbCrypKs
And June's Bitesize Breakfast Church is here: https://youtu.be/FCgT08p0cLk
THIS SUNDAY'S READING: Matthew 28.16-20
THE COLLECT FOR TRINITY SUNDAYHoly God,faithful and unchanging:enlarge our minds with the knowledge of your truth,and draw us more deeply into the mystery of your love,that we may truly worship you,Father, Son and Holy Spirit,one God, now and for ever. Amen.
A prayer from the Broadstone Methodists for Churches Together this week: We thank God for the gift of children and pray for our schools in Broadstone as pupils and teachers get used to this new way of behaving, learning and teaching. We ask God’s Holy Spirit to be present in the class rooms and the staff rooms, the playgrounds and halls, strengthening and encouraging the whole school community. We pray that everyone might sense something of God’s presence in these places.
FlowersToday, flowers would have been dedicated to Tony Hedges, whom we remember with this virtual bunch.
News✣ Revd Lyndon is taking the coming week as a study week. Revd Helen returns to work on Thursday, but either of us are available for any emergencies on Tuesday and Wednesday. From Thursday, please contact Revd Helen in the first instance.
✣ Apologies if you have been trying to contact the office or administrator via email over the past week or so. Only too late, we discovered that the company who provides our email accounts has stopped offering this service. Thanks very much to Geraldine's hard work, however, our accounts should be up and running again by the time you read this, and the crisis resolved, if not averted! Many thanks indeed to Geraldine for sorting this!
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The Good NewsWe may not associate fashion magazines with the kingdom of God very often, but the world has certainly been turned on its head at British Vogue, whose editors have temporarily 'furloughed' their super models in order to run a series of articles celebrating key workers next month. The featured workers speak of the surprise at being asked to model for the iconic magazine, and the sense of dignity they have found in their work as a midwife, Underground driver, and supermarket assistant over this period. Let's hope that sense of dignity in work remains with us long after this crisis. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-52879906
Go Wild for Wildlife this June!Did you know that June is national 'Engage with Wildlife Month'? England's Wildlife Trusts have teamed up and are inviting us to commit one 'act of wildness' for 30 days in June (and beyond!). How about sketching something from nature, planting some wildflower seeds, staying up late to see the stars, looking for shapes in clouds, or following a bee on its journey? The organisers write...
From little actions (like stopping to smell a flower on you way to the shops or taking a moment to watch squabbling sparrows in a hedge) to big things (like giving up single-use plastics for a month or pledging your support to a nature campaign), 30 Days Wild is all about re-connecting with the natural world around you and doing a little bit of good for wildlife.
Sign up for a pack full of ideas here: https://action.wildlifetrusts.org/page/57739/petition/1, and do keep sending in photos of the wildness you've enjoying at home and around Broadstone.
At Home Last WeekHere are the answers to last week's quiz from Paul and Val:
1. Maya 11. Gill2. Carol 12. Ann3. Victoria 13. Jean4. Dawn 14. Joy5. Penny 15. Ruby6. Patience 16. Polly7. Coral 17. Peg8. Winnie 18. Blanche9. Heather 19. Sally10. Mary 20. Jenny
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And for any wannabe code-crackers out there, the answer to Joyce's puzzle from last week is the first two lines from the following well known verse:
What is this life if, full of care,We have no time to stand and stare.No time to stand beneath the boughsAnd stare as long as sheep or cows.No time to see, when woods we pass,Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.No time to see, in broad daylight,Streams full of stars, like skies at night.No time to turn at Beauty's glance,And watch her feet, how they can dance.No time to wait till her mouth canEnrich that smile her eyes began.A poor life this if, full of care,We have no time to stand and stare.
This week we have two more beautiful photographs from Hazel, this time from the garden. Meanwhile, a tomato forest continues to take over the curate's house until the new greenhouse arrives...
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At Home This Week This week, Joyce has a stonker of a brain-teaser for us, combining maths, code-breaking, and wildlife – perhaps completing her puzzle will count as one of your acts of wildness for June!
The pictures show a Green Hairstreak, Green Veined White, and a female Orangetip.
What is the value of the Green Hairstreak?
If you manage to beat Joyce's bamboozling butterflies, you could also have a go at decoding Eric's cryptic quiz of place names within the British Isles:
1. Bottle stopper 11.Religious person finished dinner2. One of the Wombles 12. Meat past its sell by date3. Water offal 13. Scarlet woman4. Irish crystal 14. Royal transport5. Several acorn trees 15. Prehistoric weapon6. Kept going 16. Prickly scalp7. Get sent here 17. What you do with clothes8. Heavy rodents bath 18. Almost too hot with a vegetable9. American cigarettes 19. Friend of Joan10. Public convenience 20. Murky waters
ContactsVicarRev'd Helen Bailey 01202 691 484 [email protected]
Assistant Curate Rev'd Lyndon Webb 07872 651 981 [email protected]
Parish Office 01202 697 641 [email protected]
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This Week's Sermon for Trinity Sundayby Revd Lyndon
There's a lot of power in a name.
Especially in the name of God.
All the authority in heaven and on earth, in fact, as Jesus tells disciples in today's Gospel.
And of course, throughout history, worldly leaders have tried to cache in on that power, using it to justify their own agendas, and committing sometimes terrible crimes in the name of God.
Most recently of course, we saw the president of the United States holding a Bible in front of a church where moments before, people had been peacefully protesting the murder of George Floyd, before they were cleared away with tear gas and rubber bullets.
I was going to show that photo, which you might have seen in the news, but I'm afraid I can't bring myself to put such an idolatrous image into this time of worship. Once again we see a world leader trying to claim the authority of God's name for himself, forgetting of course that the Bible is full of story after story of God taking power from violent leaders, and giving it to the marginalised, the oppressed, and the overlooked.
Watching the news from America this week, however, I'm glad to say that I have also spent a lot of time looking at another image; one which I am all too happy to share here.
This is the Iona Trinity, by the artist Meg Wroe, and it is one of my favourite images of God, based on the famous, Russian, Rublev Icon.
As we have been forced to reflect this week on the ways in which we are all implicated in a system which withholds power, authority, and even life from our black, asian, and minority ethnic brothers and sisters around the world, this beautiful image reminds us that the Trinity models a different kind of society, one in which power is constantly given away, from the Father to the Son in the Spirit. In fact, we could say that the Holy Spirit is this movement of power within God, a power which Christ in turn gives away to us, through prayer, sacraments and fellowship. This movement is also captured beautifully by this icon, in which the three persons of God make space for us to join them at the table where their love feast is about to begin.
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Now throughout the Bible, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in fact have many names. The Father is also our Mother, our Creator, and Lord; Jesus the Son is also known as our teacher, saviour, servant and our friend; and the Spirit is called the comforter, the violent wind, tongue of flame, and the bond of peace. But the true name of the power which moves between these three, and which should move between us as creatures and as Christians, is of course love. Love – that power, that authority, that strength which always gives itself away, always seeks to build up the other in humility and with joy.
Of course, for us here at St John's, perhaps those other images, of protests in the United States, feel very far away; perhaps it feels like there isn't much we can do to help. And truth be told, the last thing the world needs right now is another white man talking about race. But one thing we can do today, at least, is offer up a moment of silence now –
silence as an act of protest and repentance for all of those white leaders who have spoken far too much about others, rather than listening to them;
silence as a sign of the space which our society needs to make, so that all people might be loved into speaking;
silence as a mark of respect for those who continue to suffer and to struggle against injustice because of the colour of their skin.
And so I invite you to join me now for just a minute of silence, as we pray together that the power which structures our own society would be shaped by the ever-moving, ever-laughing, ever-expanding love of the Trinity who rejoices over you, and me, and every child They have made. Let us pray...
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