6TH NOVEMBER 2016
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THE BODY OF CHRIST Vicar’s Blog
About 6 years ago I was able to take a sabbatical, or Extended Study Leave. The period away from SN16 was tremendous, rather sunny and snoozy, but I was deeply irritated when I returned. You see, while I was away for 3 months, the Revd Lee Barnes was in charge. Now Lee is a Derby County supporter, which probably says quite enough about his character and judgement, (there is only one team in the East Midlands,) but while I was away interviewing leaders about their leadership styles both in industry and the church, back home in Malmesbury the Abbey congregation grew nicely thank you very much, in both number and in ministry. Irritated? Yes. Who did he think he was to grow the church? The bloomin’ cheek. But I refrained from assault, always a good thing for a vicar, because I
have never really felt that church is all about the woman or man up at the front with the clerical collar and the flowing robes. (Although the older I get the more I appreciate the robes.) In Derbyshire, where I served my curacy, our strapline as a diocese was ‘ministry belongs to the baptised, not the ordained.’ Amen. And that has rather stuck with me ever since. We are the Body of Christ, a body, not one enormous elbow. And a healthy and nourished body continues to grow, even when an elbow is on a beach. But when one of us is down, we’re all down with them. And when one of us leaves a small part of us leaves with them. So it is with sadness that we say farewell to Barry & Elizabeth Angell who have moved to Taunton. (You can see a brief note from them later in the News Sheet.) They served faithfully in our
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A B B E Y D I A RY THIS SUNDAY: November 6th 9am BCP Communion 10.30am Holy Communion 4pm Informal Worship & Junior Church
community and as sacristans at our morning congregations, and have been with us for 23 years. They saw me arrive in shorts all those years ago. They will be missed. Also departing this month are Jen & Dave Richards with their young son Joshua. Jen & Dave have both served as leaders and preachers at our 4pm service, pastored the under 30s at the Abbey, and Dave not only served on the PCC but created the Abbey guided audio tour. Their final service is this Sunday at 4pm and they return to Australia with our profound thanks, every blessing and the certain hope that God knows where Australia is:
‘If I dwell at the ends of the sea, there too your hand leads me.’ Psalm 139: 9,10
THIS WEEK EACH DAY 9am Morning Prayer MON 7th 10am Little Stars TUES 8th 7pm Malmesbury School Presentations th WED 9 10.30am Communion 7.30pm Alpha th THUR 10 10.30am Time for Chat 7pm Choir Practice th FRI 11 10.30am Creative Response 10.50am Act of Remembrance 7.30pm Poppy Concert th SAT 12 10am Prayers for Janet Parke in Eilmer House 7.30pm MAMS Concert NEXT SUNDAY: November 13th 9am BCP Communion 10.30am Holy Communion with Act of Remembrance 2.30pm British Legion Service of Remembrance 4pm Informal Worship & Junior Church with Act
LU K E 1 9 : 1 - 1 0 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.’ 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.’ 8
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’ 9
Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.’
Additional Reading: Isaiah 1:10-18
DISCIPLESHIP 1. Take time together to share what you learnt or experienced of God in our meetings last Sunday. Then read the passage. 2. Are there ways in which our lifestyle and day-to-day actions make it difficult for others to see Jesus? (How do we behave as a ‘crowd’?) 3. Are our attitudes towards others shaped by God’s love and their needs or by social and religious norms and traditions? 4. Does this story show forgiveness in response to repentance or repentance in response to forgiveness? Which do we see as normal or usual? 5. Zacchaeus responded to Jesus with spontaneous generosity. Do our lives show this sort of response? 6. ‘Today salvation has come to this house.’ What did this mean to Zacchaeus? How would the disciples and followers have interpreted it? Does this understanding differ from today’s beliefs about salvation?
D A I LY R E A D I N G S Monday Psalm 20 Daniel 4:19-end Revelation 5 Tuesday Psalm 21 Daniel 5:1-12 Revelation 6 Wednesday Psalm 23 Daniel 5:13-end Revelation 7:1-4, 9-end Thursday Psalm 26 Daniel 6 Revelation 8 Friday Psalm 32 Daniel 7:1-14 Revelation 9:1-12
REGULAR GIVING If you would like to give regularly to the mission and ministry of the Abbey as part of your discipleship, please e-mail alan@malmesburyabbey.com. m
BARRY & ELIZABETH
J A N E T PA R K E
A special message from Barry & Elizabeth Angell: ‘Thank you to all at Malmesbury Abbey for all the fellowship and love we have enjoyed from everyone in the last twenty-three years . We have moved to a small village near Taunton. We will miss you. We wish all the best in the future. God Bless.’
We will next meet to pray for Janet and her life and work in Zambia, with SIM, on Saturday 12th November at 10am in Eilmer House. We will be praying particularly for Janet as she plans her return from overseas mission to life in the UK in December.
TRINIT Y COLLEGE
PERSECUTED CHURCH
Is anybody considering theological study, to deepen their understanding of the Bible and benefit their ministry? Prospective students are invited to join us at an Open Day on Saturday 12 Nov to chat with our faculty, meet current students, and consider whether God may be calling them to study at Trinity. For more information, contact Nicola Willcocks: email n.willcocks@trinitycollegebristol.ac. uk or phone 0117 968 0254.
Pray for persecuted Christians, particularly those who are harshly discriminated against in all sorts of ways for following Jesus. We next meet at Mollie's (4 Mill Lane) at 2.30pm on Tuesday 1 November.
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NOTICEBOARD F O U N D AT I O N G O V E R N O R The PCC is currently looking for somebody to serve as Foundation Governor at Malmesbury CE Primary School, to join the governing body and focus on helping to develop and maintain the distinctive Christian character of the school. This is a wonderful opportunity to work with other members of the Abbey who are Foundation Governors and to serve our community. There are six evening meetings a year with the full governing body, and planning meetings with the Foundation Governors. You do not have to be a parent in the school, and young or old we would love you to pray about joining us. Please speak to Revd John Monaghan or John Jenkins.
CHRISTMAS VOUCHER SCHEME You can be part of a great example of the church in action in our community! Each year Churches Together in Malmesbury (CTiM) like to give a Christmas present to low income families in the area, so they can enjoy celebrating this special time of year too and know that the local community cares for them. Our generosity means they will be given vouchers that can be exchanged for food at the local Co-op stores. Last year we were able to help around 70 local families. This week special envelopes are available at each service. If you would like to contribute, please place your donation inside one of the envelopes provided, and if you pay tax then please write your name etc on the envelope so that gift aid can be added to the total. Your envelope can be placed in the collection in any of the services during November. If you know of someone who would like to contribute but isn’t here today, extra envelopes are available at the back of the Abbey. Thank you for helping to make sure this event continues to be a local success.
! ABBEY AD VENT & CH R ISTMAS D IARY 20 16 Sat 26th Nov
6.30pm Advent Carols by Candlelight 1
Sun 27th Nov
ADVENT SUNDAY 9am & 10.30am Advent Holy Communion 4pm All-age Advent Service 6.30pm Advent Carols by Candlelight 2 7pm Youth Action Wiltshire Carol Service 7.30pm Malmesbury Community Choir Christmas Concert
Fri 2nd Dec Sat 3rd Dec Sun 4th Dec
Thu 8th Dec Sat 10th Dec Sun 11th Dec
Wed 14th Dec Sat 17th Dec Sun 18th Dec
Fri 23rd Dec
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ADVENT II 9am & 10.30am Holy Communion 4pm Informal Worship & Junior Church 10am Malmesbury CE Primary School Christmas Service 7.30pm Malmesbury Singers Christmas Concert ADVENT III 9am & 10.30am Holy Communion 4pm Informal Worship & Junior Church 7.30pm Malmesbury School Carol Service 6.30pm Nine Lessons & Carols by Candlelight 1 ADVENT IV 9am & 10.30am Holy Communion 3pm The Puppet Nativity for younger children 6.30pm Nine Lessons & Carols by Candlelight 2 7pm The Malmesbury Nativity
Sat 24th Dec
CHRISTMAS EVE 2pm, 4pm & 6pm The Malmesbury Nativity 11.30pm Midnight Communion (Carols from 11.15pm)
Sun 25th Dec
CHRISTMAS DAY 9am Holy Communion 11am Family Celebration 12 noon Champagne (bring a bottle)