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BENEDIC T Vicar’s Blog
He doesn’t get a Red Letter day in the church calendar, his is a lesser festival, but on July 11th, Benedict of Nursia, the Abbot of Monte Cassino, the father of western monasticism, is remembered across the church with thanksgiving for his ministry. A simple prayer will be sung at Choral Evensong on July 12th at the Abbey, which reflects briefly on his life. Nearly 1500 years after his death we remember the man who gave us the Rule of Benedict, which in turn shaped the monastic life of Malmesbury Abbey, which in turn laid the spiritual foundations of the church we are a part of today. His rule, containing 73 chapters, possibly doesn’t play a large part in your thinking, I tend only to encounter it when on a monastic retreat, so some highlights for you. Chapter 73 gives us an insight into what the entire rule is about. Basically
an unguided Christian life or community is a haphazard route to imperfection, but the life immersed in the ‘divinely-inspired books of the Old and New Testament’ has found the ‘most unerring rule of human life.’ Fair enough. Monks and nuns to this day pray the psalms relentlessly and live lives drenched in God’s word. Chapter 45 is interesting. Make a mistake when reading out a ‘psalm, responsory, antiphon or lesson’ and you need ‘greater punishment.’ Unless of course you are part of Junior Church. Times have clearly changed, because it simply says: ‘boys for such faults should be whipped.’ Chapter 20 advises us to keep our prayers short and pure ‘unless it chance to be prolonged by the impulse and inspiration of divine grace.’ I like a rule that reminds us to
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A B B E Y D I A RY THIS SUNDAY: July 12th 9am BCP Communion 10.30am Holy Communion 4pm Informal worship & Junior Church 6.30pm Choral Evensong
be open to the moving of the Holy Spirit. Finally Chapter 53; thoughtfully I have left you 69 chapters to explore for yourself. ‘Let all guests that come be received like Christ, for he will say: I was a stranger and you took me in.’ (Mt. 25:35) Hospitality and humility is what should greet a stranger though our doors. So let the word of God lead you to perfection, pray simply and be open to the Spirit, welcome the stranger as Christ, and keep the whip handy for any mistakes in the services. Let’s learn a lot from the lives of the Benedictines that preceded us here in Malmesbury. But let’s not learn absolutely everything.
THIS WEEK EACH DAY 9am Morning Prayer TUES 14th ALL DAY: WOMAD Schools Project 7pm WOMAD Concert th WED 15 10.30am Communion THUR 16th 10.30am Time for Chat 1.45pm Prayer for Janet Parke in Eilmer House 7pm Choir Practice th FRI 17 10.30am Pewsey Vale U3A - Pop-up Concert SAT 18th 10am The Meeting Place 1.30pm Wedding of Sam Saunders & Becky Lentink
NEXT SUNDAY: July 19th 9am BCP Communion 10.30am Holy Communion 4pm Informal Worship & Junior Church
E XO D U S 3: 1 - 1 5 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, ‘I will go over and see this strange sight – why the bush does not burn up.’ 4
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’ And Moses said, ‘Here I am.’ 5 ‘Do not come any closer,’ God said. ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’ 6 Then he said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. 7 The Lord said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey – the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.’ 11
But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’ 12 And God said, ‘I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.’ 13 Moses said to God, ‘Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they ask me, “What is his name?” Then what shall I tell them?’ 14 God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: “I am has sent me to you.”’ 15 God also said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites, “The Lord, the God of your fathers – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob – has sent me to you.” ‘This is my name for ever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation. Additional Reading: John 8:48-59
DISCIPLESHIP 1. Share your experiences and learning from last Sunday and then read the passage. 2. Was Moses as unprepared as he thought? Why do you think he was so lacking in confidence? 3. How did God help him deal with this? (See also Acts 7:35) 4. What is your understanding of God’s call on your life, and how does this tie in with his presence and work in your life? 5. God came down to the Israelites, see Exodus 3:8. How is this dimension of God’s nature further revealed in the New Testament? 6. What do you find in your hand that God might use? 7. The name of God is paramount in the expression of his being and presence. Discuss this in light of Exodus 3:6 and John 8:58.
D A I LY R E A D I N G S Monday Psalm 126 Esther 4 2 Corinthians 6:1-7:1 Tuesday Psalm 132 Esther 5 2 Corinthians 7:2-end Wednesday Psalm 119:153-end Esther 6:1-13 2 Corinthians 8:1-15 Thursday Psalm 143 Esther 6:14-7:10 2 Corinthians 8:16-9:5 Friday Psalm 144 Esther 8 2 Corinthians 9:6-end
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
GLORY !
ABBEY GUILD
Our next Glory! Prayer meeting is on Tuesday July 21st at 7.30pm. After sung worship together we will be praying particularly that the Holy Spirit will renew and refresh our vision for the ministry of healing across our services, and also our outreach on Saturday mornings, The Meeting Place. All are encouraged to pray and fast in some way in the 12 hours before Glory! which will begin with a very short service of Holy Communion.
The next Abbey Guild meeting is on Tuesday 14th July at the King’s Church, beginning at 2.30pm. Sherry Baffour, from the King’s Church, will be giving a talk entitled ‘Experience Ghana!’, with traditional Ghanaian clothes and artefacts on display. Followed by refreshments.
NEW WINE 2015
SMALL GROUPS
Only 3-weeks left until we pack our bags and head off to the Royal Bath and West showground, Shepton Mallet for another unforgettable week of laughter and friendship, passionate worship and inspiring teaching. It’s not too late to book and come with us. You can camp or commute, come for the whole week (2nd-8th Aug) or just for a day. Go to www.new-wine.org/summer for more details or speak to Revd John Monaghan.
On Monday July 20th at 8pm there will be a meeting in the Parish Office for all Small Group Pastors. Additionally, if anybody is looking to join a small group would you contact Neill before this meeting. (neill@malmesburyabbey.com.)
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MID-YEAR UPDATE At the Abbey we are now six months in to our financial year and the two charts on this page give an update on our income and expenditure so far. On our income side giftaid-ed giving is encouragingly ahead of budget while collections and the donation box are below; tourist numbers are down currently. Grants and donations are up, mainly due to money received for recent work on the Bell Tower. On our expenditure side we have paid our Parish Share, the contribution we make to the mission and ministry of the Expenditure (£123K) diocese, but we have overspent 12,557 on maintaining buildings. This 3,398 Parish Share will be an area of challenge over 12,590 the coming years as our Wages architect’s Quinquennial Report 40,000 Buildings has identified significant work 25,504 Utilities ahead. We also need to fund a 28,398 pension scheme for our Administration employees and put into place the Misc developing vision for Children’s and Youth Ministry. With these challenges in mind should you wish to contribute or change the way you give to the work of the Enquiries 01666 826666 // Box Office 01666 824339 Abbey, please contact our Abbey office@malmesburyabbey.com Treasurer, Alan McAdam. www.malmesburyabbey.com (alan@malmesburyabbey.com) issuu.com/malmesburyabbey
FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS July 5 July 12 July 19 July 26 Aug 2 Aug 9 Aug 16 Aug 23 Aug 30
Abraham (Genesis 22) Moses (Exodus 3) Joshua (Joshua 1) Ruth (Ruth 1) David (1 Samuel 17) Solomon (1 Kings 3) Elijah (1 Kings 18) Daniel (Daniel 6) Esther (Esther 4)
This day, this moment, your life, lived with God, matters.