St Thomas' Brampton and St Peter's Holymoorside, Chesterfield
Rector's Letter February 1987-January 1988
Our vision statement: Sharing the love of Jesus
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This bitter weather has been relieved a bit by the cricket from Australia. Radio ear-pieces are such a fine invention that Pam hasn't been too disturbed by the early morning commentaries. We've won the Ashes and that helps to beat the cold!
I was given for Christmas the autobiography of a fine Australian cricketer, Brian Booth. When he was playing in the 1960s, he used to be noted for his modesty and sportsmanship. I remember going as an impressionable student to hear him speak during the Australian tour of England in 1964. He was plainly a Christian, through and through, confident and open about it and yet quietly unassuming at the same time.
Most of Brian Booth's book is about cricket but perhaps the most striking part is his description of how as a young man he came to put his faith in Jesus Christ.
"This called for considerable change of attitude, life became as difficult as batting against top bowling, and as worthwhile. Now there was purpose and motive. I was playing for and communicating with my Captain. My life was welded into His team. From that time on life became a continual Test Match."
That idea grabs me: a continual Test Match! In the wildest fantasies of youth nothing outshone the prospect of playing in a Test Match. Yet, here and now in the real world, I can have all the exhilaration, all the responsibility and all the creative, nervous tension of a Test Match in my daily life - trusting and seeking to follow our Lord Jesus Christ.
Join me in making 1987 a year to live "in the fast lane" (to quote Geoff Boycott).
Christopher Frith
From the
February 1987 edition
of the magazine
April/May 1987
We don't like waiting for things nowadays. One of the major credit cards was launched with the slogan, "It takes the waiting out of wanting". You could call us "The instant generation"; seeking to achieve everything in no time at all with nothing more to do than add a little water.
No wonder Holy Week isn't observed by many. Even Good Friday means little more than hot cross buns. Enjoy Easter the painless way by ignoring what has gone before. Anyway, why wait? Easter eggs are available months in advance.
The trouble is that, if we take away the waiting and the pain, we take away the meaning. Without Holy Week, there is no Easter. If Jesus never suffered and never died, what does it mean to say that He is alive? There is nothing real to celebrate.
He did suffer. He did die. It was horrific and we need to realise it. For Him there was no short cut to the triumph of Easter, no instant victory. So don't try to have Easter 1987 without entering into the real story. The way of the cross can be traced. Something of the pain can be felt. Our lives can be touched and Easter will be real.
Christopher Frith
From the
April 1987 edition
of the magazine
June/July 1987
From the Curate, Peter Allan
Dear Friends,
If you wished that we could at least keep politics from the Parish Magazine in the run-up to the General Election I'm afraid to tell you that it gets everywhere. Here's an extract from the original text of 'James the. Red Engine' by Rev. W. Awdry.
"Dear Friends of Edward, Gordon, Henry and Thomas. We are nationalised now, but the -same engines still work the region. I am glad to tell you that the Fat Director, who understands our friends' ways, is still in charge, but is now the Fat Controller."
I wonder what difference this year's election result will make to our children's literature! But, of course, it's all a foregone conclusion. "As the General Election approaches we needn't bother - the government is destined for a third term of office, the question is merely a matter of majority."
They said that at a June election seventeen years ago and to everyone's surprise the Conservative opposition was elected with a respectable working majority!
So if your vote may count, how do you vote - as a Christian. Perhaps you comfort yourself with the thought that voting will pose no problem for you. You've always voted for the same party and intend to do so again. But parties change.
Every party has through its policies and changed dramatically in recent years. Say you are just turned fifty and first voted in 1959. If you voted Conservative you voted for a party led by one who to his death was a fervent opponent of privatisation, while the Labour leader was an outright opponent of unilateral disarmarment!
So how do you vote? The media will emphasis three areas - opinion polls, personalities and policies. Consider these of course but consider also
principles, practice and power.
Principles:
try to find out why your candidate - and the party he represents - wants to have power. What does he believe in? What is he seeking to achieve? To what extent is he committed to work for the common good - in his constituency, in the nation, in the world? Do his beliefs about mankind correspond to your own?
Practice:
does he practise what he preaches? Has his behaviour measured up to his principles? Has he worked for the common good or simply for his own or some other sectional interest. This becomes most clear when we look at the issue of power.
Power:
no party leader says "Elect me and I will be your dictator for the next five years". Each claims - I believe sincerely - that they want to promote freedom and opportunity. The policies of the newly elected government will to some extent determine who holds power and influence.
Consider, for example, the effects of Trade Union regulation; the removal of American bases or proportional representation. We must ask ourselves: to what extent does this shift in power promote freedom and opportunity? To what extent do the policies (past and present) seek to remove from political influence those who disagree with the party and its leadership?
Consider rate-capping and the abolition of the Greater London Council by the Conservative government, the. rejection of the movement for black sections, by the Labour leadership, and the top-level Alliance compromise on nuclear disarmament. Are these good policies or bad attempts to frustrate local democracy?
Our consent is vital for the election of our new government. Give that consent to the candidate and party who will be interested in your consent or dissent in the years to come.
And a happy election to you all,
Peter Allan
From the
June 1987 edition
of the magazine
August/September 1987
It's the strawberry season as I write. "Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did" - so my gardening book quotes a 16th century physician.
We went on a 'pick-your-own' expedition yesterday and, while the others picked strawberries, I went on a lone search for raspberries which I sometimes think are even better. It was strangely peaceful. The crowds hadn't yet arrived and the rain had stopped. Some words of Jesus went round and round my mind:
"I chose you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last." (John 15:16).
It seems such a strange concept,
"fruit that will last".
If there's one thing that is obvious about squidgy raspberries, especially when they're wet, it is that they want eating soon; they won't last! The same is true of strawberries - and grapes, to which Jesus would have been pointing.
By the time this magazine is being read, strawberries and raspberries will have been consigned to the memory - and the freezer - and they are never quite as good after that.
Fruitfulness is the calling of every Christian. Not just when we're in season, not nice while it lasts but short-lived; we are called to bear fruit that will last.
For instance, those who teach (Sunday School, Fellowship Group etc) should aim to impart lessons that will be remembered for years. Those who share their faith, should expect to see others turn to Christ for the rest of their lives. Those who have administrative responsibility should aim to have the wheels running so smoothly that the health of the church is facilitated for years to come.
There's a harvest which should be seen in all our lives, the
"fruit of the Spirit". (Galations 5:22,23).
This also should last. Love goes on and on. Peace should be constant. Joy can even survive tragedy. Patience, frequently tested, should not break. And so on.
The Holy Spirit isn't seasonal. So....
"go and bear fruit - fruit that will last"
. Fresh strawberries all the year round!
Christopher Frith
From the
August 1987 edition
of the magazine
October/November 1987
"I'm not sure I liked your sermon, Rector, I found it disturbing."
"Oh no," I find myself thinking. "Someone else is upset. I must be more careful and more gentle next time." I may well have been insensitive or unclear or wrong. But not necessarily. Just possibly it was a good sermon and it was the Word of God which disturbed the listener, who needed disturbing anyway.
I sometimes wonder if we are really prepared to meet our Lord when we go to church. Do we want to hear what He has to say? Or are we perhaps in search of comfort, an easier life, an escape from the real world?
Another complaint I get sometimes is, "It's so noisy in Church; there's so much activity; we need silence." There is truth in this. I sympathise for I too enjoy peace and quiet.. But God is not always in it.
Sometimes He wants activity, the meeting of people, involvement in the pain and distraction of real life. To deny that He is in this and to declare that He is only in stillness cannot be true. It's like saying He is in the countryside but not in the big city: that plainly isn't so. Perhaps we haven't learned to find Him there.
Our Lord is to be found in our churches - not in spite of the noise and activity, but in the midst of them. He is speaking through His Word and that is often disturbing. Surely. it is in this context that God can galvanise us into action as His agents in a desperate world.
Or do we prefer to be anaesthetised when we meet to worship? Rita Snowdon, in
"When We Two Walked",
describes going to a village church that would seem just right.
"Hymn and psalm and prayer, and the quiet murmuring voice of the Vicar tended to take my thoughts out of the windows into the morning sunlight and over the fields and far away. The pity is, it was all so harmless, so gentle, so proper. There was nothing to remind anyone of that Young Man, who strode the countryside and talked with the country people of Galilee, in burning words. The kind of Man who leaves you restless ever afterwards until you have found His God, and learned to call Him 'Father' too."
Christopher Frith
From the
October 1987 edition
of the magazine
December 1987/January 1988
It's horrible to be left out. If it's your own birthday party, it's unthinkable.
Yet, that happens, year by year, to Jesus Christ. The day of His actual birth, there was no room for Him anywhere. Ever since then, His birthday has been celebrated in style by countless millions - yet many would find His presence at their celebration acutely embarrassing.
What kind of a Christmas are you planning? An excuse for much eating, drinking and merriment? Or a birthday party for Jesus?
Its not too late to change plans. How about....
- planning to be at church without fail on Christmas Day?
- inviting someone else to share your Christmas? - perhaps someone who would otherwise be alone.
- having a Nativity Scene on your cake instead of Father Christmas?
- using your imagination to think of other ways of making it His birthday?
Christopher Frith
From the
December 1987 edition
of the magazine
Rector's Letters 1988
