‘We are fellow workers in God’s service.’
Vision Sunday MALMESBURY ABBEY
HOSPITALITY THAT INVITES PEOPLE CLOSER STABILITY THAT DRAWS PEOPLE DEEPER CREATIVITY THAT LIFTS PEOPLE HIGHER
Vicar’s blog: immense gratitude Dear all. Less of a blog and more a series of thankyous this week. In Romans 12:5 St Paul says this: in Christ we who are many form one body. Looking back over the two weeks of holy week at the Abbey (yes, we had a buy one get one free offer on) I’m grateful that God allowed us to be in a place as a church where if we didn’t function as a body the whole game was over. With no ‘body’ there would have been no brochure delivery, no doors-flung-wide hospitality, no labyrinth exploring, no Fauré sung, no dinosaurs projected, no Josh Flowers amplified, no readings or teaching on the cross and resurrection, no spirit-touching drama, no liturgy and prayer, no reflecting on North Korea, no door opening and ticket selling, no printing, no BBC broadcast, no praying in the streets, no Easters hymns shaking the building. And the rest. A lot was done, but how it was done also really matters—a lot. I was chatting with somebody during the Holy Week Festival, who would probably place describe himself as on the edge of the Abbey congregation, who was simply taken in by the love and warmth of Malmesbury Abbey. Great work, team. Thank you.
Speaking of being overwhelmed. Easter Day was personally very moving as Bishop Lee prayed for me at the end of the 10.30am Holy Communion marking my completion of ten years in ministry here. Being a vicar feels a little bit like being a parent— you always suspect that everybody else knows how to do it far better than you and think it’s a minor miracle when the children turn out OK. So I really don’t underestimate God’s grace in calling me from a Job Centre in London to a 12th Century Abbey in Wiltshire; in equipping me for a task that in many ways is well-suited to me; and giving you all the good grace to participate in his mission at the Abbey and beyond. Thank you all for the very kind words on our card, thank you for the extraordinarily generous gift and the bottles of wine, and thank you to those who packed the Whole Hog for a bit of a party. And as I mentioned a few times on Sunday, this isn’t a leaving do! Final thankyous. Serving the Bishop of Bristol as a local churchwarden is a lot of hard work, much of it behind the scenes. Being a churchwarden of an Abbey with a ministry well beyond that of a normal parish church, with significant civic, cultural and regional roles, is a tremendous responsibility, equally exhausting and inspiring. Diana Crowe and Lesley Wilson are exemplary churchwardens at the Abbey. They are remarkable servants of God who myself, the staff and the PCC entirely rely upon. Thank you for an outstanding year in ministry.
www.malmesburyabbey.com
Abbey Diary THIS SUNDAY: VISION SUNDAY 10.30am Coffee 11am Festival Communion 12.30pm Picnic Lunch 1.30pm Annual Meeting & Elections 2.30pm Closing Prayer EACH DAY TUES 29th WED 30th THURS 1st
FRI 2nd SAT 3rd
9am Morning Prayer 9.30am Women Alive 10.30am Holy Communion 10.30am Time for Chat 4pm Evening Prayer 7pm Choir Practice 10.30am Creative Response 10am Healing in the Streets 7.30pm MAMS Concert— Café Mozart
NEXT SUNDAY: May 4th 8am BCP Holy Communion 10.30am Holy Communion 4pm Informal Worship, Junior Church & The Grid 6pm The Mix//The Campbells May 21st June 3rd June 9th June 20/22 July 2nd July 15th July 28/29 Aug 3rd Sep 13th Oct 7th Oct 17/18 Oct 31st
Healing Ministry training Glory! Small Group pastors training Church Weekend Away Music for Autism WOMAD at the Abbey Holiday at Home New Wine Archbishop in Malmesbury Confirmation at the Abbey BBC History Weekend glo in the dark Junior Church
1 Corinthians 3:5-15 5
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labour. 9 For we are fellow workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. 10
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved – even though only as one escaping through the flames.
Additional Reading: John 21:1-14 Afterwards Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 ‘I’m going out to fish,’ Simon Peter told them, and they said, ‘We’ll go with you.’ So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4
Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realise that it was Jesus. 5 He called out to them, ‘Friends, haven’t you any fish?’ ‘No,’ they answered. 6 He said, ‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’ When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
7
Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, ‘It is the Lord,’ he wrapped his outer garment round him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred metres.9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. 10 Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish you have just caught.’ 11 So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ None of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
small group resource + 1. 2. 3.
4. 5.
Read John 21:1-3. Why did Peter and the other disciples go fishing? Read verses 4-6. How wide was the boat? What made the difference to the catch when they threw out the net this time? Read verses 7-14. John (the disciple who Jesus loved) stays in the boat, Peter (who denied Jesus) leaps out and wades ashore to Christ. Why? ‘Sin draws us closer to God.’ Discuss. See verse 9. There is one other mention of a charcoal fire in the NT, Peter is there too. Where is it? How might you link John 18:15-18 and John 21:15-18?
daily readings MONDAY Psalm 5 Col 1:1-14
TUESDAY Psalm 148 Col 1:15-end
WEDNESDAY Psalm 30 Col 2:1-15
THURSDAY Psalm 139 Col 2:16-3:11
FRIDAY Psalm 61 Col 3:12-4:1
You are welcome to pick up the full Morning Prayer liturgy and readings from St Aldhelm’s Chapel
Vision Sunday/AGM Our 2014 Vision Sunday and Annual General Meeting takes place on Sunday April 27th. Our time together will look as follows: 10.30am Coffee 11am Holy Communion with Vicar’s Address & children’s activities 12.30pm Picnic Lunch & Coffee (indoors) 1.30pm Annual Meeting & Elections 2.30pm Closing Prayer During our meeting we will be electing our two Abbey churchwardens for the year ahead, electing 4 people to both our Deanery Synod and PCC, and electing 3 others to just our PCC. These are crucial roles in the spiritual oversight of the Abbey. The agenda and a variety of ministry reports are available at the back of the abbey or online at issuu.com/malmesburyabbey
Sunday afternoon stewards Sunday Stewards are urgently needed for the Third Sunday of every month from 2 pm to 4 pm. If you feel you have a heart for welcome and love the Abbey, please let Linda Weston or Diana Crowe know as soon as possible.
Funeral of Winn Hyde The funeral of our dear sister Winn Hyde will take place at the Abbey on Wednesday May 7th at 3pm. The service will be conducted by Revd Bob Hyatt.
Friday e-Mailing If you would like to receive an e-mail every Friday from the Parish Office, with a link to this News Sheet online and other additional notices and links, please contact Sandie Brown at office@malmesburyabbey.com.
Noticeboard Baptism in September 2014 The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will be with us in Malmesbury on Saturday 13th September at 4pm for an outdoor celebration with baptisms in the river. Anybody who is interested in being baptised, or reaffirming an earlier baptism, is asked to e-mail neill@malmebsuryabbey.com at this time to register an interest. Registration forms will be available shortly and the Pilgrim course, which will be the preparation for the baptism, will take place at 8pm on July 7, 14, 21, 28 and September 1 & 8. Neill will be leading this with Lee Barnes who is coordinating candidates for the North Wilts Deanery.
May 4th May 11th May 18th May 25th June 1st June 8th June 15th
Revelation 1:1-11 Revelation 1:12-19 Revelation 2 Revelation 3 Revelation 4&5 Revelation 6&7 Revelation 8&9
The Last Word on Scripture The Last Word on Christ The Last Word on the Church (1) The Last Word on the Church (2) The Last Word on Worship The Last Word on Evil The Last Word on Prayer
The Last Word Revelation at Malmesbury Abbey
Contact ABBEY OFFICE Mon &Tues (9.30am-12noon) Weds, Thurs ,Fri, (9.30am-2.30pm) 01666 826666 www.malmesburyabbey.com sandie@malmesburyabbey.com Staff members can be contacted by name@malmesburyabbey.com NORMAL CAFÉ HOURS Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday: 9am-4.30pm Wednesday: 12noon-4.30pm Sunday: Closed all day clare@malmesburyabbey.com
Christian Aid Week 2014 The focus of Christian Aid Week in 2014 is helping people affected by conflict as they put their lives back together. You can read more at www.christianaid.org; you can hear the Archbishop of Canterbury speak on this year’s focus here www.christianaid.org.uk/ getinvolved/christianaidweek/films.aspx; and you can get involved locally. We need cars, collectors and cakes: cars to be washed on Saturday May 10th; collectors to help with the house-to-house collection; and cakes for the Market Cross stall on Saturday May 17th. If you can help with any of these, please contact Dick Gray (01666 823979 or richard.gray@tiscali.co.uk). Many thanks.
12th CENTURY BEAUTY 21st CENTURY CHURCH