I was initially sceptical that anyone would turn up to the Easter Sunday dawn service at 6am at North Sands. (I even questioned if I would make it!) Yet my doubts were overturned by the good weather and the attendance of over forty others. We began in the dark with the lighting of a fire and the blessing of our paschal candles. As the morning sunlight bled over the glassy North Sands waters we praised God and recalled the Easter mystery – Christ is risen; the light of world has conquered.
The symbolism of fire and light doesn’t stop with Easter. At Pentecost we recall after Jesus’ ascension the disciples were all in one room in Jerusalem. There they waited until the Holy Spirit broke in and descended. The Acts of the Apostles described the event. ‘Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.’ (Acts 2.2)
The point about this account lay in the fact that until then experiences of God’s spirit were limited to the few. Now the Holy Spirit can make us all prophets, priests and kings in Jesus’ revolution. The Easter fire now spreads out to the corners of the world. Jesus words ring true, ‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! (Luke 12.44-45)
**
Pentecost has been interpreted as the birthday of the worldwide Church. Some congregations have started taking this to heart and celebrating with a big birthday cake and lighted twelve candles. Birthdays remind us of our origins and keep us rooted.
With every good wish
Daniel
For more thoughts, sermons and diary notes visit
http://salcombevicar.blogspot.com
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Holy Week Services
The Easter break appears to be upon us with lots of visitors pouring into Salcombe. The benefice has a number of services this Holy Week and I have listed them below.
Wednesday at 2pm at Salcombe Church
School Service with children exploring the Passover Meal
Maundy Thursday at Galmpton Church 6pm
Eucharist of the Last Supper
Good Friday
10am at Salcombe. A Walk of Witness starting at Whitestrands and followed by an ecumenical service at the church around 11am.
10am Ecumenical service at All Saints Malborough
Easter Day
At Salcombe there is a dawn service at North Sands (lasting about 30 mins) starting at 6am. There then is an 8am Prayer Book Communion and 10 Family Eucharist. A songs of praise service is on at 6.30pm with many favourite hymns.
At Malborough the Easter Service is at 10am and at Galmpton 11am.
Wednesday at 2pm at Salcombe Church
School Service with children exploring the Passover Meal
Maundy Thursday at Galmpton Church 6pm
Eucharist of the Last Supper
Good Friday
10am at Salcombe. A Walk of Witness starting at Whitestrands and followed by an ecumenical service at the church around 11am.
10am Ecumenical service at All Saints Malborough
Easter Day
At Salcombe there is a dawn service at North Sands (lasting about 30 mins) starting at 6am. There then is an 8am Prayer Book Communion and 10 Family Eucharist. A songs of praise service is on at 6.30pm with many favourite hymns.
At Malborough the Easter Service is at 10am and at Galmpton 11am.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The Good Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ
April Magazine Editorial
Groucho Marx famously remarked that he wouldn’t belong to any club that would have him! I wonder, if many people today think the same thing about being part of life of the Church? The world-wide Church at its heart is not an institution but a living vibrant body; a band of people from every walk of life trying to follow Jesus. Can we look at membership of the Church afresh and present it in a more positive light?
Of course, it’s all to easy to imagine that the historic Church is an invention of man and nothing near what Jesus would want. Philip Pullman in his controversial new book, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, resells this old chestnut. In the author’s view Saint Paul is the ultimate spin doctor who has recreated Christianity and made it into something it was not meant to be. The same kind of slant on the Church is painted by Dan Brown in The DaVinci Code but with Emperor Constantine as the one who invents Christianity rather than Paul. Neither Pullman or Brown are practising Christians or theologians, rather they are in the business of telling stories and selling books.
The alternate view to these contentious authors is to see the Church as Christ’s body. This does not mean that Church people have not got things wrong in the past or have done terrible things in the name of religion. But, it does mean that at the centre of Jesus’ work, here and now, is this spiritual family. So, even if clergy and laity make a hash of it, the Lord somehow will make good of bad. We, fallible human beings, are the only material that He has. Maybe the Church has many centuries to go before it reaches its perfection? Could it be that we are in the infancy of the Church?
Sometimes being part of a church can be testing but it can also be tremendously rewarding, welcoming and spiritually, intellectually and emotionally nourishing. There can be politics and squabbles in our churches which can drive us to distraction. But, just as ‘no man is an island’, surely no Christian can be truly fed without some participation in the life of Christ’s Body? Maybe this Easter we all need to give the Church a second look, and think afresh about how we can be part of it?
Groucho Marx famously remarked that he wouldn’t belong to any club that would have him! I wonder, if many people today think the same thing about being part of life of the Church? The world-wide Church at its heart is not an institution but a living vibrant body; a band of people from every walk of life trying to follow Jesus. Can we look at membership of the Church afresh and present it in a more positive light?
Of course, it’s all to easy to imagine that the historic Church is an invention of man and nothing near what Jesus would want. Philip Pullman in his controversial new book, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, resells this old chestnut. In the author’s view Saint Paul is the ultimate spin doctor who has recreated Christianity and made it into something it was not meant to be. The same kind of slant on the Church is painted by Dan Brown in The DaVinci Code but with Emperor Constantine as the one who invents Christianity rather than Paul. Neither Pullman or Brown are practising Christians or theologians, rather they are in the business of telling stories and selling books.
The alternate view to these contentious authors is to see the Church as Christ’s body. This does not mean that Church people have not got things wrong in the past or have done terrible things in the name of religion. But, it does mean that at the centre of Jesus’ work, here and now, is this spiritual family. So, even if clergy and laity make a hash of it, the Lord somehow will make good of bad. We, fallible human beings, are the only material that He has. Maybe the Church has many centuries to go before it reaches its perfection? Could it be that we are in the infancy of the Church?
Sometimes being part of a church can be testing but it can also be tremendously rewarding, welcoming and spiritually, intellectually and emotionally nourishing. There can be politics and squabbles in our churches which can drive us to distraction. But, just as ‘no man is an island’, surely no Christian can be truly fed without some participation in the life of Christ’s Body? Maybe this Easter we all need to give the Church a second look, and think afresh about how we can be part of it?
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