REFLECTIONS
These pieces are written each month by members of our clergy team.
November Leader
Recently, I gathered with some friends and some of their family members to mark the 50th birthday of one of our friends. What was particularly poignant about this gathering was that our friend had lost a long battle with cancer at the age of 47, leaving behind a wife and two children. This year we gathered therefore to mark a milestone that sadly he never reached. My late friend’s father raised a glass to the son he had lost, noting that as a family they had already gathered for two birthdays since losing their son, and that this year they had wanted to invite more people. In many ways it was a difficult occasion, as our gathering was a reminder to all of us of a great sense of loss, and it was one birthday gathering where it felt wrong to use the word ‘celebrate.’ Prior to this occasion some of my friends had even questioned whether we should be marking this birthday at all. However, on the day it felt right, and it clearly meant a lot to my late friends’ parents and to his widow that a group of people had gathered to remember him. At that meal, I became incredibly aware of the power of remembrance, and also of how afraid we can be that a loved one may be ‘forgotten.’ One worry when we lose someone we love is that there might come a point when others will no longer speak of that loved one.With all that in mind, I have come to see the huge significance of Remembrance Sunday. Remembrance is a theme that runs through Scripture. In Deuteronomy 6, Israel is urged to remember God’s deliverance. In Psalm 77, as in so many of the psalms, the writer remembers God’s works, and it gives him strength. One of Jesus’ final commands to his disciples at the last supper, as he shared bread and wine, was to ‘do this in remembrance of me.’ And so this November, on Sunday 9th, we will gather to remember the millions of lives lost in the two World Wars in particular, but also those lives lost in conflicts that continue to take place around the world today. On all our minds will be the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine in particular, although Remembrance Sunday is also a day to remember places like Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, and other places around the world affected by war.
The gathering in honour of my friend reminded me of the power and significance of remembrance - in this case the remembrance of one life lost. Equally our gatherings on Sunday 9th November, and our 2 minutes of silence, carry a great power and significance, as we stand together with all those who have lost loved ones to conflict, as well as with all those whose lives are affected by conflict today. One of the readings often chosen for that Sunday is Isaiah 2:4, where the prophet envisions a day when ‘nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.’ The vision is in such stark contrast to the images we see on the news every day that it can only remind us that at present it is a vision of God’s kingdom and God’s will that as yet have only been perfected in heaven. It is therefore a vision that urges us to join our prayers with those of Christ, in the words of the Lord’s prayer. As we gather on this Remembrance Sunday let us therefore be aware of the great power of remembrance, and as we remember let us pray that one day God’s kingdom would come, and God’s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Stephen
Almighty Father, whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the King of all: govern the hearts and minds of those in authority, and bring the families of the nations, divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin, to be subject to his just and gentle rule; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen
Reflection:
Our Patron Saint Giles would probably be the last person to worry about a church hall, or any building for that matter. After all he was reputed to have been happiest living in a cave or out in the open surviving on nuts, berries and the milk of a deer. So there may have been some wry smiles in heaven when we chose our Patronal Festival as an auspicious time to launch our St. Giles Centre Refurbishment Appeal.
The past year has not seen us inactive, Architects have been employed, plans drawn up, engineers, surveyors and contractors consulted and last year we raised over £30,000. The challenging news is that we will need to find £186,000 to refurbish the Centre, the good news is that we raised and have had promised £126,000. This means that we now have £60,000 remaining to find.
You may wonder why on earth this section of the bulletin, which is supposed to be about spiritual matters, has been hijacked by info on the Centre - shouldn't this stuff be in the Notices? Well for me the refurbishment of the Centre is a spiritual matter and what we do with that building is important to the cause of God’s kingdom and the reach of the Gospel, let me explain. In the Gospel John 15: 1-10 Jesus uses the analogy of a vine to emphasise the connectedness of life and faith. Jesus is the vine and we are the leaves and the branches. As long as we remain connected to him we will be alive, fruitful and connected. If we are disconnected then we shrivel and die away. Churches need to be firstly connected to Jesus and then they need to be connected to each other and then connected outwards to the community in which they are situated. This interconnectedness between Christ, his followers, and the local community, always brings mutual flourishing and productiveness. What is produced is friendship, company, socialisation, compassion, care, growth, knowledge of each other, happy memories, support, and so much more. Someone once said to me that they dreaded weekends because they could spend the whole time not speaking to anyone and once they even took a bus ride just to find some company! This should not be happening, loneliness is a modern day scourge sometimes made better by modern technology but oftentimes made worse.
Part of church life is togetherness and socialisation and currently at St. Giles we have nowhere to foster this. The current Centre is a very depressing place to even spend five minutes in, weeds in the car park, broken tarmac, rotting timber, musty and mouldy kitchen, and horrible toilets all make it about as appealing as a wet weekend in Hainaught.
Just imagine a refurbished Centre, brightly lit, modern, newly painted with nice toilets and a new kitchen which will allow us to serve meals and refreshments. Think how this will allow us to set up activities and groups which bring people together. A hall that the local community can use, a hall where we can continue to offer bereavement support groups, a hall which allows us to welcome families and children to a modern facility - need I go on? All of this helps dent the world of loneliness and isolation, all of this builds community and a sense of belonging. A good hall contributes to the collective mental health of the community; it will form part of the nourishing soil that the vine of Christ is planted in. To be honest I hate fundraising and over the years I have had to do a lot of it. Clearly I didn’t read the small print in the vicar job description. Nevertheless, fundraising for the Kingdom can be a sacred duty, a way in which the love of Christ can be manifest at a given time and place. Many of the things that we love and value today were bequeathed to us through the generosity and work of our forebears. Let us now do our bit. I hope and pray that we will raise the necessary funds to refurbish our Centre to the benefit of all of us. Bless you and thank you.
MatthewABOUT ST. GILES CHURCH
Monthly Bulletins
It has now been 5 years since we started sending out our monthly Bulletin as a result of the Covid pandemic and I know from various feedback that the Bulletin is very much appreciated. Going forward I remain very committed to making sure that all of us who love St. Giles are kept informed not only of what is going on at our Church but encouraged in the understanding and practice of the Christian faith.In the future we will continue to write to you but every other month making sure that our bulletins coincide with the important occasions in the Church's year. Our next Bulletin will be sent out in July.
Matthew Hughes, May 2025