28th MAY 2017
THY KINGDOM COME Catherine Price – Lay Prior, Community of St Aldhelm
As Christians, we pray "Thy Kingdom Come" - or its modern equivalent every time we pray The Lord's Prayer, the family prayer of the church. Sometimes, because they are familiar, the words slip past us, and we don't stop to think about them very hard. We don't pause to consider what a wonderful thing it is that we are praying for: for the kingdom of God to come on earth. Imagine what it would be like to live in a world in which God's will - His love and desire for the wellbeing of all that He has made was lived out by every man, woman and child on earth. This week, we have all been deeply saddened by the bombing in Manchester, which has taken the lives of children and young people, injured many more and plunged many families into mourning. At times like this, I find that I long even more than usual for the coming of the new heaven and the new earth.
As a church and as individuals, we have the opportunity in the coming days to pray with fresh intensity for our world as part of the Archbishops' "Thy Kingdom Come" initiative, which started this Thursday, on Ascension Day and will continue through to Pentecost. This Sunday we will all be receiving bookmarks to help us pray as individuals and on Friday 2 June we will be having twelve hours of continuous prayer in St Aldhelm's Chapel between 9am and 9pm. If you are able to, please sign up for at least one of the one hour slots and come and pray then. There are also some family prayer journals if you want to pray in families.
"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven".
Catherine
S A F E G UA R D I N G In very simple terms “safeguarding” is something we do to protect children and vulnerable adults from harm. In the Church of England, safeguarding children and vulnerable adults and responding well to abuse is now a high priority. In developing our own policies and practices within the Abbey we comply with both Church of England and Diocese of Bristol guidelines for safeguarding. Our policies have recently been updated and are available at the stewards’ desk in the Abbey and in the Parish Office. All those who work directly with children or vulnerable adults in the Abbey undertake safeguarding training every 3 years. Additionally, if you serve in other roles within the Abbey you are likely to be asked to undertake some basic safeguarding awareness training in the future. This is likely to be online training or a course delivered in the Abbey. The next safeguarding courses in the Abbey are on 30 September 2017 and 21 April 2018; further details to follow. Our Parish Safeguarding Officers are Debs Poneskis (Children and Young People) and Sue Kirby (Vulnerable Adults). Their contact details are displayed outside the Abbey, in the Parish Office and in Eilmer House. If you have any safeguarding questions or concerns please contact them. Thank you for your support in the vital ministry
ABBE Y DI AR Y THIS SUNDAY: May 28th 9am BCP Communion 10.30am Holy Communion 4pm All Age Communion 6.30pm Choral Evensong THIS WEEK EACH DAY 9am Morning Prayer WEDS 31st 10.30am Communion 7.30pm Re-dedication of Community of St Aldhelm (CoStA) with Rev’d James Pettit st Thurs 1 10.30am Time for Chat 7pm Choir Practice Fri 2nd 9am-9pm Day of Prayer
Thy Kingdom Come NEXT SUNDAY: June 4th (Pentecost) 9am BCP Communion 10.30am Holy Communion 4pm Informal Worship & Junior Church ADVANCE DIARY for JUNE TUES 6th 2.30pm Prayer for Persecuted Christians th SAT 10 9am Men’s Breakfast 7.30pm The Stuart Singers TUES 13th 7.30pm Glory! SAT 17th 1pm “2in1” Piano Duet WED 21st 3pm Free Organ Recital SAT 25th 6.30pm Choral Evensong with Prayers for the new Mayor of Malmesbury
JOHN 17:1-11 Jesus looked towards heaven and prayed: ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. 6
‘I have revealed yo] to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.
Additional Reading: Acts 1:6-14
DISCIPLESHIP Read Acts 1:1-14. 1. Is there anything that surprises you in this passage? 2. “…he …. gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.” What were they? What proofs do we have that Jesus is alive? What evidence is there in your own experience that Jesus is alive? How can your group encourage each other in developing your experience of the living Jesus? 3. “… you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” What would be some of the difficulties the early disciples might face in obeying Jesus’ desire that they witness to him for each of these four areas? 4. What might be four equivalent areas for us? How might we make progress in these areas? 5. Read Romans 8:26-27 and 8:3437. If the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus are praying for us, how best can we join in with that prayer and in God’s mission? 6. Pray about and discuss some action you would like to take to address one (or more if you have time) of those areas of mission from question 4.
D A I LY R E A D I N G S Monday Psalm 93 Deuteronomy 31:1-13 1 John 2:18-end Tuesday Psalm 99 Deuteronomy 31:14-29 1 John 3:1-10 Wednesday Psalm 85 1 Samuel 2:1-10 Mark 3:31-end Thursday Psalm 24 Deuteronomy 32:15-47 1 John 4:1-6 Friday Psalm 28 Deuteronomy 33 1 John 4:7-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
P R AY F O R P E R S E C U T E D CHRISTIANS Pray for persecuted Christians. The month of Ramadan has started, so, at the meeting on Tuesday 6 June from 2.30pm at 4 Mill Lane, we will be praying for those (Christains and Muslims) across the Muslim world. Please speak to Mike Langtree for more details.
MEN’S B R E A K FA S T On June 10th, 8.30am-10.30am come and have breakfast in the Abbey with David Katende who is Pastor of the Life Changing Church, Ndejje, Kampala. Uganda and is involved in the National Leadership Transformation Campaign, which teaches and trains politicians, cultural leaders and religious leaders about servant leadership. Tickets available from the Abbey £5. More information from Simon Shaw or Bob Hyatt.
PA R I S H D I R E C T O R Y
O U T S I D E C A F É S PA C E
We are in the process of creating a brand new Parish Directory so, if you are newly arrived to our congregations or maybe you’re a life-long member and feel that the Abbey is your home, we would really like you to be included in the new Parish Directory. None of this is compulsory and is basically to help us all stay in touch and to have an efficiently running church. Please collect your GREEN FORM from the back of the Abbey and return to the Parish Office by 25th June at the latest.
We are delighted to announce that the Town Council have given us permission to have some tables and chairs outside the North door as outside café space, something our customers often ask about. The cost of placing 3 tables with 12 chairs is £600. We are hoping to fund this expenditure from individual donations from the congregation. If you feel able to contribute to this part of our Abbey mission please contact Chris Jager or the Parish Office.
12th CEN TU RY BE AU T Y 21st CEN TU RY CHU R CH
NOTICEBOARD THY KING DOM COME The Archbishop of Canterbury invites us as a parish to join the global wave of prayer between Ascension and Pentecost (25th May - 4th June) as churches of all denominations from many countries around the world join together to pray. Please visit the website with lots of resources (www.thykingdomcome.global), set aside time to pray individually, pick up a free Prayer Bookmark during the 10.30am and 4pm Abbey services on 28th May, and join us for a day of prayer for all facilitated by the Community of St Aldhelm on Friday 2nd June (9am-9pm). We would also love it if you would consider purchasing a Family Creative Prayer Journal (£4 - from the Abbey) either for your own family, or to bless another.
“ T H A N K YO U ” F R O M J A N E T PA R K E “Dear brothers and sisters in Christ. As I am due to officially retire from my work with SIM (Serving in Mission) at the end of June 2017, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the PCC and to the members of Malmesbury Abbey for all your financial and prayer support during my years of serving the Lord in Zambia. I know that the PCC and many individuals have been very supportive in prayer, in financial gifts and in many other practical ways, and without this support my work in Zambia would not have been possible. Thank you very much and may God bless you all. Yours in Christ, Janet Parke.”
CHRISTIAN AID There are many people who work hard fundraising during Christian Aid Week, so many thanks to them and also to those who generously donated throughout the week. The current total raised in Malmesbury is £7,974 – just creeping past last years’ figure. It’s still not too late to make a contribution. (Envelopes are at the back of the Abbey) – we only need a small amount to get past £8,000! With thanks again for your support during, what has been an incredible week. Dick Gray.
CONTAC T
ABBEY OFFICE Tuesday-Friday 9.30am-3pm 01666 826666 office@malmesburyabbey.com www.malmesburyabbey.com Staff members can be contacted by name@malmesburyabbey.com
ABBEY CAFÉ Monday-Friday Friday (normal) 9.30am – 4pm Happy Hour (drinks £1) from 9.30-10.30am 10.30am café@malmesburyabbey.com MalmesburyAbbey MalmesburyAbbeyKitchen
MALMESBURY ABBEY At Malmesbury Abbey we love to welcome new people, so don’t be shy, please make yourself known to us today or contact the Parish Office during weekday office hours (details above). We also love to show care for our community, please lease help us by letting us know if you, or anyone you know, needs our help.
12th CEN TU RY BE AU T Y 21st CEN TU RY CHU R CH