July 2015
Bring the kids to light a candle for Christ’s birthday
N E E D TO K N OW
I S T O R I E S I A R E A U P D AT E S I E V E N T S N E A R Y O U
Arc hdeacon’s View By VEN JOHN PERUMBALATH, Archdeacon of Barking One of the serious problems the church faces today is biblical illiteracy. How have we ended up here? Firstly, there is neglect of Christian education. Christian life has become a matter of experiencing rather than one of learning. We are centred on our needs and experience today, catering to the narcissistic individualism of modernity. So we go for a 'needs' based reading with a ‘feel good’ orientation. We are not on a pilgrimage of learning but on a quest to find capsules for quick relief and to feel good. Secondly, there is a loss of biblical narrative even among the Bible-reading Christians. We do not let the narratives of the scriptures speak to us; rather we pick and choose useful verses. This is a drastic departure from the practice of early Christian communities who found their own stories in the biblical narratives. We often treat Scripture primarily as a collection of information, be it historical, moral or doctrinal. Thirdly, there is loss of confidence in CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
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School keeps ball rolling East London pupils and teachers christmasstarts.com support Ethiopian links: Page 12
www.chelmsford.anglican.org
Parishioners get needles clicking to knit woolly hats for freezing sailors
Susan awarded Order of St Cedd for service to the diocese
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■ Lunchtime reading club launch: Page 4 ■ What's on in Essex and East London: Page 9