As you may well be aware, All Saints’ Church pledges to donate 10% of our income to charity.
So far this year we have mainly focused on covid related needs. So we have –
  • Donated £1000 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  • Gifted £1000 to Clayton Baptist Church towards the food bank supporting those in need in our own locality.
  • Gifted £250 towards the appeal to support the people of Nkuringo (in Uganda, East Africa ), through the Nkuringo Education & Community Support Trust. The people of the region are at risk of starvation as a result of the lockdown. The money will provide seeds, food and for the immediate needs of the community.  
    Our link with Nkuringo is via one of the teachers at All Saints’ School, who is involved with the charity; she has sent a thank you message on their behalf…

    ‘Once again thank you so much for the kind donation of £250 towards food.  This will provide 25 families with a much needed supply of Poshu – the staple food there. They are also working hard to distribute seeds and equipment to help the community grow their own food.  With schools closed due to the pandemic the children who would usually have food provided are not receiving any – your donation will ensure families will not starve. Thanks’.

     

    To learn more about the charity’s work or to donate visit their website

Thank you for your continued support.

Keep us, good Lord,

under the shadow of your mercy

in this time of uncertainty and distress.

Sustain and support the anxious and fearful,

and lift up all who are brought low;

that we may rejoice in your comfort

knowing that nothing can separate us from your love

in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Prayer for this Month

Loving God, 

We pray during these difficult times for all lives lost over the past few weeks, may they rest in Your eternal light and love. 

We pray that their families and friends find comfort and strength. 

We give thanks for all of our key workers who are working extremely hard to support health and welfare in all parts of your world.

 Although we are living through a devastating pandemic, we thank you God for the ever increasing kindness, generosity and sharing that is bringing and growing communities together reminding us that You are truly with us and continue to carry us even through darkness.

Amen

Clare Byfield

 

God of redemption,

your challenge is peace.
Given not as the world gives it – with limits, conditions and reversibility,
but unconditionally – with infinite love.
We pray today for those of us who find ourselves
in places we do not want to inhabit –
a home or community where we no longer feel welcome;
an identity that feels cut off at its roots.
We pray for those of us with feelings we do not know what to do with –
loss and grief,
fear and anxiety,
aggression and vengeance,
exclusion and banishment,
uncertainty about our future.
Bless us now, whatever we feel and whoever we are.
Dwell in our souls deeply.
Give us the courage to tell our stories honestly and openly;
the compassion to hear the stories of others with an open heart;
the discipline to share what we have;
the discernment to advocate for those more vulnerable than we are,
and the means to be agents of care and connection,
justice and hope –
to seek out and celebrate the life and joy in our communities,
setting a tone in harmony with you.
We ask these things in the name of Jesus and those who came after him,
who lived in times of bitter conflict,
who were perplexed but not driven to despair,
afflicted in every way, but not crushed,
persecuted, but not forsaken.
All the time, proclaiming you.

Amen

United Benefice of Altham and Clayton-le-Moors

Vicar: Revd Toby Webber, The Vicarage, Church St, Clayton-le-Moors
(01254) 384321   tobywebber@btinternet.com

May 2020

Dear friends

Well, how are you doing?  I have managed to speak to some of you (whether on the phone or at a distance when passing during exercise) and have seen social media updates or had messages from others.  Some I’ve had updates of from our pastoral team, who are ringing many of our ‘older’ parishioners on a regular basis.  Others I haven’t had any contact with and I hope that no news is good news.  Don’t be afraid to get in touch one way or the other if you’d like a chat or yourself or someone else to be kept in prayer (publicly or privately).

I know that a number of you or your loved ones have been directly affected by the coronavirus.  A few have been very ill, and others more mildly so.  A few have lost loved ones during this time, in some cases with Covid-19 as the main or contributory cause of death.  Others of you are already living with bereavement or sickness of yourself or a loved one and are having to do so without the physical comfort of relatives or many of the activities and services which can help us through.

Nationally it is good to observe that we are ‘past the peak’, but shocking to recognize that at least 30,000 lives have now been taken by this virus in our country already.  I note, too, that numbers of people in hospital with Covid19 here in the North-West remain high, in recent days overtaking the number in London.

I think that by and large we are all trying to remain as positive as we can and ‘get through’ but we will need to allow time individually and as a society to work through the trauma of this experience.  I pray that we will also take the time to think through carefully what we need to learn from it and how life can and should be different, post-pandemic.

Some of you are in one way or the other on the ‘frontline’.  The whole parish is proud of those of our number who are nursing the very sick and at times accompanying the dying.  Everyone’s thoughts and prayers are also with all those whose work brings them into heightened risk from this virus, whether as carers, in shops, in the emergency services or whatever it may be.  Whilst many of us seek to stay safe and work from home, you are out there day by day.  Our schools and their staffs are working very hard to support home learning, to care for those who need to be in school, and to keep in particular touch with those where there is a special need for support.

We are now in the seventh week of lockdown.  We are now beginning to look for how it will be eased and a gradual move towards greater freedom made be possible, hopefully without compromising public health.  The very simple message will become more complicated and so it will be very important that we continue to follow the instructions we are given.  A good number of you fall into the clinically very vulnerable group and have several more of your minimum twelve weeks minimum ‘shielding’ yet to come.  Our thoughts are with you as you cope with these strictures , especially those who live alone.

We are now well into the Easter season.  For many of us going through Holy Week and Easter without going ‘to church’ was very odd.  However, I hope whether through the services on facebook or through your own times of worship at home, you were still able to feel the reality of the Easter gospel of God’s redeeming act in the death and resurrection of Jesus.  And I hope that whilst physically apart we still feel ourselves to be members of one body, as indeed we are, the body of our risen Lord Jesus Christ.

I hope that everyone is now aware of our Facebook live services (Sundays from 10:45, Fridays at 6:30pm) and prayer times (Wednesday and Friday morning prayer and litany at 10am, daily night prayer at 9:30) and that you can access these on-line even if you do not have a Facebook account.  Google ‘Facebook All Saints Clayton’ and you should get the link.

If you aren’t on-line then I hope you have found the Sunday worship services on BBC television or radio.  There is now also a facility to access a FREE Church of England resource called ’Daily Hope’ by ringing 0800 804 8044.  There is a choice of listening, from hymns to a full service and the Mothers’ Union midday prayer.  Also, to enable you to join in the Night Prayer that some of us are sharing in at 9:30pm, I’m including the order of service with this mailing.  It is a very peaceful way to reflect and wind down at the end of the day and to place ourselves and the hurting world into God’s hands in prayer.

Some of you have asked about giving during this time.  The PCCs of both parishes are very grateful to those who give by standing order and whose contributions have continued.  They are very conscious that for some the lockdown has brought financial difficulties through unemployment, being placed on furlough, or the self-employed losing their income.  We quite understand where individuals need to suspend or reduce their giving.  Others who normally give by envelope may wish to help by giving via standing order, or if preferred via one or more one-off BACS payments.  Details for giving to All Saints’ can be found on the church website – or simply get in touch with me or Les Moore at Altham or Linda Bracewell at All Saints’ for details or a form.  Alternatively, you can simply accumulate your giving and bring it when the churches finally re-open.

Both our churches pledge to give 10% of our general income in charitable donations.  As part of this, All Saints’ PCC have now gifted £1000 during the lockdown to Clayton Baptist Church to help them help our community.  They are very active  as part of the Hyndburn Hub, and at the request of social services also helping needy families more widely across East Lancashire.  Some need a food parcel to tide them over, or because they have no-one to go shopping for them.  Others have come out of prison, or left an abusive relationship or similar and have absolutely nothing.  The Baptist Church on Sparth Road is open daily and you can always drop off food, household essentials, toys/colouring/craft things for children.

One effect of these strange times is the rediscovery of prayer by many who had perhaps given it up as old fashioned or irrelevant.  I’m sure that those of us who pray anyway have found ourselves praying more intently and regularly as we seek God’s peace, his healing for the sick, his strength and protection for the carers.  In prayer may we know his strength to carry us, his peace that passes understanding and courage for the path each of us is called to walk.  And in prayer may we seek his will, his direction for our futures, and that his kingdom come, on earth as in heaven.  Here is a prayer you might like to use:

Keep us, good Lord, under the shadow of your mercy
in this time of uncertainty and distress.
Sustain and support the anxious and fearful,
and lift up all who are brought low;
that we may all rejoice in your comfort
knowing that nothing can separate us from your love
in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

With my love, prayers and best wishes,

Toby

 

 

Last week is Christian Aid Week – We won’t have envelops through the door or at church – so why not donate on line. The need is very great, especially at the moment under the circumstances the world finds themselves in.

If you wish to donate you can do so here.

United Benefice of Altham and Clayton-le-Moors

Vicar: Revd Toby Webber, The Vicarage, Church St, Clayton-le-Moors
(01254) 384321   tobywebber@btinternet.com

May 2020

Dear friends

Well, how are you doing?  I have managed to speak to some of you (whether on the phone or at a distance when passing during exercise) and have seen social media updates or had messages from others.  Some I’ve had updates of from our pastoral team, who are ringing many of our ‘older’ parishioners on a regular basis.  Others I haven’t had any contact with and I hope that no news is good news.  Don’t be afraid to get in touch one way or the other if you’d like a chat or yourself or someone else to be kept in prayer (publicly or privately).

I know that a number of you or your loved ones have been directly affected by the coronavirus.  A few have been very ill, and others more mildly so.  A few have lost loved ones during this time, in some cases with Covid-19 as the main or contributory cause of death.  Others of you are already living with bereavement or sickness of yourself or a loved one and are having to do so without the physical comfort of relatives or many of the activities and services which can help us through.

Nationally it is good to observe that we are ‘past the peak’, but shocking to recognize that at least 30,000 lives have now been taken by this virus in our country already.  I note, too, that numbers of people in hospital with Covid19 here in the North-West remain high, in recent days overtaking the number in London.

I think that by and large we are all trying to remain as positive as we can and ‘get through’ but we will need to allow time individually and as a society to work through the trauma of this experience.  I pray that we will also take the time to think through carefully what we need to learn from it and how life can and should be different, post-pandemic.

Some of you are in one way or the other on the ‘frontline’.  The whole parish is proud of those of our number who are nursing the very sick and at times accompanying the dying.  Everyone’s thoughts and prayers are also with all those whose work brings them into heightened risk from this virus, whether as carers, in shops, in the emergency services or whatever it may be.  Whilst many of us seek to stay safe and work from home, you are out there day by day.  Our schools and their staffs are working very hard to support home learning, to care for those who need to be in school, and to keep in particular touch with those where there is a special need for support.

We are now in the seventh week of lockdown.  We are now beginning to look for how it will be eased and a gradual move towards greater freedom made be possible, hopefully without compromising public health.  The very simple message will become more complicated and so it will be very important that we continue to follow the instructions we are given.  A good number of you fall into the clinically very vulnerable group and have several more of your minimum twelve weeks minimum ‘shielding’ yet to come.  Our thoughts are with you as you cope with these strictures , especially those who live alone.

We are now well into the Easter season.  For many of us going through Holy Week and Easter without going ‘to church’ was very odd.  However, I hope whether through the services on facebook or through your own times of worship at home, you were still able to feel the reality of the Easter gospel of God’s redeeming act in the death and resurrection of Jesus.  And I hope that whilst physically apart we still feel ourselves to be members of one body, as indeed we are, the body of our risen Lord Jesus Christ.

I hope that everyone is now aware of our Facebook live services (Sundays from 10:45, Fridays at 6:30pm) and prayer times (Wednesday and Friday morning prayer and litany at 10am, daily night prayer at 9:30) and that you can access these on-line even if you do not have a Facebook account.  Google ‘Facebook All Saints Clayton’ and you should get the link.

If you aren’t on-line then I hope you have found the Sunday worship services on BBC television or radio.  There is now also a facility to access a FREE Church of England resource called ’Daily Hope’ by ringing 0800 804 8044.  There is a choice of listening, from hymns to a full service and the Mothers’ Union midday prayer.  Also, to enable you to join in the Night Prayer that some of us are sharing in at 9:30pm, I’m including the order of service with this mailing.  It is a very peaceful way to reflect and wind down at the end of the day and to place ourselves and the hurting world into God’s hands in prayer.

Some of you have asked about giving during this time.  The PCCs of both parishes are very grateful to those who give by standing order and whose contributions have continued.  They are very conscious that for some the lockdown has brought financial difficulties through unemployment, being placed on furlough, or the self-employed losing their income.  We quite understand where individuals need to suspend or reduce their giving.  Others who normally give by envelope may wish to help by giving via standing order, or if preferred via one or more one-off BACS payments.  Details for giving to All Saints’ can be found on the church website – or simply get in touch with me or Les Moore at Altham or Linda Bracewell at All Saints’ for details or a form.  Alternatively, you can simply accumulate your giving and bring it when the churches finally re-open.

Both our churches pledge to give 10% of our general income in charitable donations.  As part of this, All Saints’ PCC have now gifted £1000 during the lockdown to Clayton Baptist Church to help them help our community.  They are very active  as part of the Hyndburn Hub, and at the request of social services also helping needy families more widely across East Lancashire.  Some need a food parcel to tide them over, or because they have no-one to go shopping for them.  Others have come out of prison, or left an abusive relationship or similar and have absolutely nothing.  The Baptist Church on Sparth Road is open daily and you can always drop off food, household essentials, toys/colouring/craft things for children.

One effect of these strange times is the rediscovery of prayer by many who had perhaps given it up as old fashioned or irrelevant.  I’m sure that those of us who pray anyway have found ourselves praying more intently and regularly as we seek God’s peace, his healing for the sick, his strength and protection for the carers.  In prayer may we know his strength to carry us, his peace that passes understanding and courage for the path each of us is called to walk.  And in prayer may we seek his will, his direction for our futures, and that his kingdom come, on earth as in heaven.  Here is a prayer you might like to use:

Keep us, good Lord, under the shadow of your mercy
in this time of uncertainty and distress.
Sustain and support the anxious and fearful,
and lift up all who are brought low;
that we may all rejoice in your comfort
knowing that nothing can separate us from your love
in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

With my love, prayers and best wishes,

Toby

 

 

An Order for Night Prayer (Compline)

The ancient office of Compline derives its name from a Latin word meaning ‘completion’ (completorium). It is above all a service of quietness and reflection before rest at the end of the day. 


Preparation

 

The Lord almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end.

All  Amen.

Our help is in the name of the Lord

All  who made heaven and earth.

 

A period of silence for reflection on the past day may follow.

The following or other suitable words of penitence may be used

 

All    Most merciful God, we confess to you,

before the whole company of heaven and one another,

that we have sinned in thought, word and deed

and in what we have failed to do.

Forgive us our sins, heal us by your Spirit

and raise us to new life in Christ. Amen.

 

O God, make speed to save us.

All    O Lord, make haste to help us.

All    Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever.

Amen.

Alleluia.

 

The following or another suitable hymn may be said or sung

 

Before the ending of the day,

Creator of the world, we pray

That you, with steadfast love, would keep

Your watch around us while we sleep.

From evil dreams defend our sight,

From fears and terrors of the night;

Tread underfoot our deadly foe

That we no sinful thought may know.

O Father, that we ask be done

Through Jesus Christ, your only Son;

And Holy Spirit, by whose breath

Our souls are raised to life from death.

The Word of God
Psalmody

One or more of Psalms 4, 91 and 134 may be used daily.
Or Sundays Psalm 104:1, 21-33, Monday Psalm 86, Tuesday Psalm 143, Wednesday Psalm 31:1-5, 19-end, Thursday Psalm 16, Friday Psalm 139:1-18, Saturday Psalm 91

Scripture Reading

One of the following short lessons or another suitable passage

Sunday: You, O Lord, are in the midst of us and we are called by your name; leave us not, O Lord our God.  (Jeremiah 14.9)

 

Monday: Thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. (Isaiah 30:15)

 

Tuesday: Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’ (Matthew 11:28-30)

 

Wednesday: Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.’ (1 Peter 5:6,7)

 

Thursday: Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil is prowling round like a roaring lion, seeking for someone to devour. Resist him, strong in the faith. (1 Peter 5.8, 9)

 

Friday: God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. (1 Thess 5:9,10)

 

Saturday: A sabbath rest still remains for the people of God; for those who enter God’s rest also cease from their labours as God did from his.  Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest.  (Hebrews 4:9-11a)

 

The following responsory may be said

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

All  Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

For you have redeemed me, Lord God of truth.

All  I commend my spirit.

Glory to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit.

All  Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

 

Keep me as the apple of your eye.

All  Hide me under the shadow of your wings.

Gospel Canticle: The Nunc dimittis (The Song of Simeon)

 

All  Save us, O Lord, while waking, and guard us while sleeping,

that awake we may watch with Christ and asleep may rest in peace.

 

1    Now, Lord, you let your servant go in peace:  ♦

your word has been fulfilled.

2    My own eyes have seen the salvation  ♦

which you have prepared in the sight of every people;

3    A light to reveal you to the nations  ♦

and the glory of your people Israel.

All  Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.

All  Save us, O Lord, while waking, and guard us while sleeping,

that awake we may watch with Christ and asleep may rest in peace.

Prayers
Time for your own prayers of thanksgiving and intercession

 

Visit this place, O Lord, we pray, and drive far from it the snares of the enemy; may your holy angels dwell with us and guard us in peace, and may your blessing be always upon us; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

Our Father, who art in heaven

The Conclusion

In peace we will lie down and sleep;

All  for you alone, Lord, make us dwell in safety.

Abide with us, Lord Jesus,

All  for the night is at hand and the day is now past.

As the night watch looks for the morning,

All  so do we look for you, O Christ.

The Lord bless us and watch over us;

the Lord make his face shine upon us and be gracious to us;

the Lord look kindly on us and give us peace.

All  Amen.

Common Worship: Daily Prayer is © Copyright Archbishops Council of the Church of England.  Used by permission.

United Benefice of Altham and Clayton-le-Moors

Vicar: Revd Toby Webber, The Vicarage, Church St, Clayton-le-Moors
(01254) 384321   tobywebber@btinternet.com

May 2020

Dear friends

Well, how are you doing?  I have managed to speak to some of you (whether on the phone or at a distance when passing during exercise) and have seen social media updates or had messages from others.  Some I’ve had updates of from our pastoral team, who are ringing many of our ‘older’ parishioners on a regular basis.  Others I haven’t had any contact with and I hope that no news is good news.  Don’t be afraid to get in touch one way or the other if you’d like a chat or yourself or someone else to be kept in prayer (publicly or privately).

I know that a number of you or your loved ones have been directly affected by the coronavirus.  A few have been very ill, and others more mildly so.  A few have lost loved ones during this time, in some cases with Covid-19 as the main or contributory cause of death.  Others of you are already living with bereavement or sickness of yourself or a loved one and are having to do so without the physical comfort of relatives or many of the activities and services which can help us through.

Nationally it is good to observe that we are ‘past the peak’, but shocking to recognize that at least 30,000 lives have now been taken by this virus in our country already.  I note, too, that numbers of people in hospital with Covid19 here in the North-West remain high, in recent days overtaking the number in London.

I think that by and large we are all trying to remain as positive as we can and ‘get through’ but we will need to allow time individually and as a society to work through the trauma of this experience.  I pray that we will also take the time to think through carefully what we need to learn from it and how life can and should be different, post-pandemic.

Some of you are in one way or the other on the ‘frontline’.  The whole parish is proud of those of our number who are nursing the very sick and at times accompanying the dying.  Everyone’s thoughts and prayers are also with all those whose work brings them into heightened risk from this virus, whether as carers, in shops, in the emergency services or whatever it may be.  Whilst many of us seek to stay safe and work from home, you are out there day by day.  Our schools and their staffs are working very hard to support home learning, to care for those who need to be in school, and to keep in particular touch with those where there is a special need for support.

We are now in the seventh week of lockdown.  We are now beginning to look for how it will be eased and a gradual move towards greater freedom made be possible, hopefully without compromising public health.  The very simple message will become more complicated and so it will be very important that we continue to follow the instructions we are given.  A good number of you fall into the clinically very vulnerable group and have several more of your minimum twelve weeks minimum ‘shielding’ yet to come.  Our thoughts are with you as you cope with these strictures , especially those who live alone.

We are now well into the Easter season.  For many of us going through Holy Week and Easter without going ‘to church’ was very odd.  However, I hope whether through the services on facebook or through your own times of worship at home, you were still able to feel the reality of the Easter gospel of God’s redeeming act in the death and resurrection of Jesus.  And I hope that whilst physically apart we still feel ourselves to be members of one body, as indeed we are, the body of our risen Lord Jesus Christ.

I hope that everyone is now aware of our Facebook live services (Sundays from 10:45, Fridays at 6:30pm) and prayer times (Wednesday and Friday morning prayer and litany at 10am, daily night prayer at 9:30) and that you can access these on-line even if you do not have a Facebook account.  Google ‘Facebook All Saints Clayton’ and you should get the link.

If you aren’t on-line then I hope you have found the Sunday worship services on BBC television or radio.  There is now also a facility to access a FREE Church of England resource called ’Daily Hope’ by ringing 0800 804 8044.  There is a choice of listening, from hymns to a full service and the Mothers’ Union midday prayer.  Also, to enable you to join in the Night Prayer that some of us are sharing in at 9:30pm, I’m including the order of service with this mailing.  It is a very peaceful way to reflect and wind down at the end of the day and to place ourselves and the hurting world into God’s hands in prayer.

Some of you have asked about giving during this time.  The PCCs of both parishes are very grateful to those who give by standing order and whose contributions have continued.  They are very conscious that for some the lockdown has brought financial difficulties through unemployment, being placed on furlough, or the self-employed losing their income.  We quite understand where individuals need to suspend or reduce their giving.  Others who normally give by envelope may wish to help by giving via standing order, or if preferred via one or more one-off BACS payments.  Details for giving to All Saints’ can be found on the church website – or simply get in touch with me or Les Moore at Altham or Linda Bracewell at All Saints’ for details or a form.  Alternatively, you can simply accumulate your giving and bring it when the churches finally re-open.

Both our churches pledge to give 10% of our general income in charitable donations.  As part of this, All Saints’ PCC have now gifted £1000 during the lockdown to Clayton Baptist Church to help them help our community.  They are very active  as part of the Hyndburn Hub, and at the request of social services also helping needy families more widely across East Lancashire.  Some need a food parcel to tide them over, or because they have no-one to go shopping for them.  Others have come out of prison, or left an abusive relationship or similar and have absolutely nothing.  The Baptist Church on Sparth Road is open daily and you can always drop off food, household essentials, toys/colouring/craft things for children.

One effect of these strange times is the rediscovery of prayer by many who had perhaps given it up as old fashioned or irrelevant.  I’m sure that those of us who pray anyway have found ourselves praying more intently and regularly as we seek God’s peace, his healing for the sick, his strength and protection for the carers.  In prayer may we know his strength to carry us, his peace that passes understanding and courage for the path each of us is called to walk.  And in prayer may we seek his will, his direction for our futures, and that his kingdom come, on earth as in heaven.  Here is a prayer you might like to use:

Keep us, good Lord, under the shadow of your mercy
in this time of uncertainty and distress.
Sustain and support the anxious and fearful,
and lift up all who are brought low;
that we may all rejoice in your comfort
knowing that nothing can separate us from your love
in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

With my love, prayers and best wishes,

Toby

 

 

Reflection by the Revd Helen Scamman

“Fear… we feel it, don’t we, when we hear of someone perhaps our own age who is seriously ill with coronavirus, or when someone brushes past us, just that bit too close? Perhaps fear grips us when we hear the dire economic forecasts, or read of hints by medical experts about measures to restrict movement being necessary a long way into the future.

There are different aspects to this fear – it seems to me that there is firstly a fear of harm, often a very instinctive reaction to the possibility of serious disease for us, or for those we love. There are other fears too, however.  One is the fear of being overwhelmed by the situation. Perhaps that might be when we consider the economic impacts for us, for society in general, or for our own particular church, as we look at the most recent financial update from the treasurer. Perhaps we fear being overwhelmed by pastoral need, or by the inner pressure we may put on ourselves to produce YouTube videos that outshine the church down the road. It is all too easy to fear that we will not be up to the job. And there is another fear – fear of the unknown. We are all wrestling with this aren’t we? We are given hints, sketchy outlines, and hear endless discussions of the possible future before us. Underneath it all, there is the sense that even the experts are casting around in the dark, in totally unknown territory.

In all these ways, fear is never far away.

But what did Jesus have to say to those who lived in fear, in an uncertain world, under the rule of a hostile empire, at a time when life was nasty, brutish, and often short? There was cause then, at least as much as now, to be afraid.

He didn’t give a 10 point plan – of ways of managing fear, helpful as we might have found that. He didn’t offer easy assurances. He walked alongside his people, and he experienced what it was to be fully human. In that shared humanity, he reassured those who worried about their physical needs, pointing to a loving Father and a future destination. He held out his hand to Peter, stopping him from sinking as he tried to walk on the water, overwhelmed by fear. He got into the boat with the disciples, who thought they were about to die, calming the storm. He talked to his disciples about their future home, in which they would be with him.  He joined those who cowered behind closed doors, and showed them the resurrection life. He walked with those who felt their world had turned upside down, on the road to Emmaus, and helped them makes sense of it all. Nowhere did he promise that life would be easy, that suffering could be avoided, or that the future could be certain, not in this life.

What he did do, however, was to live out and share these truths, even in the face of fear:

When fearing harm, you have a Father in heaven who knows you fully and cares for you absolutely.

When fearing being overwhelmed, you have a Saviour who is present and powerful in the storm.

When fearing an unknown future, you have a future destination in him, which is the only certainty in this life.

We are not given pointers or platitudes, we are given a presence…. the presence, through the Spirit, of a Father who loves us, a Saviour who walks with us, and the hope of a future more glorious by far than anything in this life.

The other day I went running in the late evening, in the rain, when all the jobs of the day were done. As I ran along the road, looking ahead, the streets lights suddenly petered out, and I was in utter darkness. I am not normally afraid in the dark, but in the eerie quiet of lockdown, with darkness looming, fear gripped my heart. I started imagining the ‘what if’s’.

In that moment I was reminded of the words used by George VI in another dark time, the winter of 1939, when the future seemed at least as uncertain as it does now:

‘I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.

That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.’

 

A Prayer for our Times

God of compassion,
have mercy upon this nation and our world in this time of fear and confusion:
we bring before you those who are suffering and who tend to their needs;
may those in isolation know your comfort and company
and may neighbours show your love in works of care, kindness and prayer;
we pray for the National Health Service and all engaged in scientific research
and we pray too for those upon whose shoulders
the yoke of leadership rests,
that in their conversation and communication
your still small voice may be heard;
we ask this in the power of the Holy Spirit,
through the One who stretched out his hands to bless and to heal
even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Canon Aidan Platten

Prayers for the Pandemic: for a household in lockdown

 God of the indoors,

who knew the confines of domestic space

at a time of little comfort,

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help us in this time of confinement,

help us to see it as an act of love, in solidarity

with those who care for us and put their own lives

on the line for the sake of others.

Help us to ‘make room’ for each other, even if room is scarce,

help us to find reserves of patience we never knew we had,

to take offence less easily, to find in our hearts

an easy apology when we’re petulant.

Help us to be attentive, careful, and thoughtful.

May we draw deeply from the well

of our most loving times.

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Prayers for the Pandemic: for those who are anxious

God of Gethsemane,

who knew deep anxiety,

the desire for the cup to be taken away,

your sweat dropping onto the clay of earth like blood,

be with those who suffer at this time

from anxiety, the fear of their world

running out of control.

The facts alone

fan the embers of anxiety

in all of us: the grim daily numbers,

the fear of falling ill, of facing our end.

In our loneliest darkness,

in the night of our Gethsemane,

may we find you there

 

Prayers for the Pandemic: for the keyworkers

 God of a day’s work,

who knew the early start,

the long shift, the thankless task,

help us to ‘see’ keyworkers in the pandemic

in a new and lasting way –

the ones who leave home to mingle

with the virus

to keep us fed,

keep us safe, keep us clean,

to care for us: in school, in care, in intensive care;

help us to help them by being careful ourselves

and remembering, on the other side of this,

who deserves our esteem, our national applause,

our lasting care.

 

Prayers for the Pandemic:

Let us pray for all those who have been infected by Covid-19,

for all who fear infection,

for those who cannot move freely,

for the doctors and nurses who concern themselves so generously with those who are sick,

for the researchers who are looking for protective and curative medicine,

that in this crisis of our world God will give us His blessing.

(Silent prayer)

Almighty God, you are our refuge and strength!

Many generations before us have known You as powerful in all their needs.

Help all who are affected by this crisis,

and strengthen in us the belief that You will take care of each and every one of us.

We ask this through Christ, our Lord.

 

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