Benefice Newsletter for Sunday 31st October – All Saints’ Day

Message from our Curate in Charge,
The Revd James Marston

As we come together tomorrow as a benefice and celebrate the lives of the saints, I cannot help but think that even in this time of vacancy and pause the Holy Spirit isn’t idle.

Indeed, at an elders meeting this week – which included elders from across the benefice – I was struck not only by the laughter and fun and energy, but also the wealth of pastoral sensitivity, experience and knowledge we hold in our ministry team and, indeed, in our congregations.

We may be in a time of reflection and “holding the fort” but I am confident, as the time draws near to welcome a new incumbent and new chapter in the life of our churches, we will hand over a benefice keen, willing, and able to minister to the needs of those souls under our care.

These may not have been the easiest couple of years. Covid, uncertainty, change, have all taken their toll, as well as for some, grief at the loss of loved ones. The church marks the remembering of the loved at this time of year with All Souls and I would commend to you this years’ service held on Tuesday night at 6pm at Aldeburgh church.

This is prayerful and reflective service, a moment to remember to be thankful and, I hope, find some peace and comfort along the journey of grief. We not only mark the passing of time but also, as a worshipping community, support those in our parishes who have lost loved ones and those closest to them during difficult times.

All are invited to take part and take the opportunity to still ourselves, light and candle, and remember.

James

Collect
God of holiness,
your glory is proclaimed in every age:
as we rejoice in the faith of your saints,
inspire us to follow their example
with boldness and joy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

First Reading
Isaiah 25.6-9
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-matured wines strained clear. 
And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death for ever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.  It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

Second Reading
Revelation 21.1-6a
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’ And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.

Gospel Reading
John 11.32-44
When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’ Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’  So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’

 

Sermon by The Revd James Marston
Preached at Friston 24^th October 2021
Bible Sunday

May I speak in the name of the Living God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This is my third Bible Sunday sermon in the benefice. – I have to admit I thought about repeating the 2019 version partly because not only was it a corker but also because I thought that by now no one will remember hearing my well-crafted words.

Sometimes writing a sermon is a bit like pouring treacle and I can’t help but admit my views on the bible haven’t changed much in the last two and a bit years – it is still a book of books, the bible still contains history, theology, stories and even poetry, and still gives us an insight into the character of God and the life of Jesus Christ.

The bible is still a series of ancient documents that speak to us today and point us towards the God we worship and whom shapes our faith and our lives.

So, as I was trying to pour this treacle my mind wandered – I found myself looking for inspiration and found myself thumbing through a book given to me this week by a parishioner.

“Records of the Borough of Aldeburgh – The Church” by Arthur T Winn not only lists the vicars of the parish but deals with the church records from roughly the first Elizabeth to the mid-1920s.

I found inside a plethora of intriguing stories-

-The remarriage of John and Agnes Arnold – deemed necessary after John, a fisherman, was captured and imprisoned by “Dunkirkers” –a type of pirate I assume – and found on his release his wife had consoled herself with another partner.

-The proposed marriage of Thomas Jinning and Susan Mitchell which after the banns had been read the “said Thomas forsook Susan and did not marry her”

And the story of a previous curate a Mr Maxtid Violette who in March 1644 found himself in hot water after being found “scandously overseen in drink in Orford, Saxmundham and elsewhere” and despite some musical gifts was taken to performing in various bar parlours songs which were “not always of a sacred character, and nor was his conversation of an improving nature.”

Added to which a lady staying at one of the town’s inns reported a reverend gentleman, whose eyes and ears were polluted by ribald songs and deportment, who visited her at midnight with a jug of beer which he vainly induced her to share.

Making me think it’s worth pointing out to the Alde Sandlings Benefice that although I may like the odd cheese straw and have been known to indulge in the occasional partaking of tobacco, you ought to grateful for what you’ve got.

As well as these intriguing stories there is some mention of bibles not least the expensive cost of binding of a Tudor one, which Mr Winn suggests, would have been sumptuously bound in leather, tooled with gold work, decorated with metal clasps, portcullis and rose and matches one discovered in Friston church just a few years before.

These mentions of the bible and the costs and care taken to ensure they look their best remind us the bible is a constant of the Christian faith.

Two years ago, I preached on what the bible is and last year on how Holy Scripture the bible is the living word of the living God. And that when we read it and think about it we are, in a sense praying, not with our head bowed and eyes shut but with our eyes open and with the intent to learn in order to satisfy the curiosity about God our faith demands.

To read the bible is to think about God and to think about God is prayer.

We use in the Anglican communion, of which this church is part, scripture, tradition, and reason, and probably experience, to reveal the Christian faith. And scripture is thought to play the most important part in this.

So this year I would remind you that how we interpret scripture is often quite fluid. It depends on who we are at any time. How we interpret scripture today will reflect who we are today.

Yet our faith requires of us, as Jesus himself did, to engage with the bible, at a deeper level than just the small snippets and few minutes of explanation we get on a Sunday morning. We are asked to hear, read, inwardly digest, and apply patience and time in order to learn, understand and react and thus the bible as a constant and a source of comfort is also a book of challenge.

Paying attention to the bible and wisdom within, allowing it to inspire our natural curiosity, being patient, asking questions, putting in some effort ourselves, draws is into deeper understanding of the character and mystery of God, and that, as Christians, is how we find out about and deepen our faith and then retell the story of faith to others.

And by deepening our faith and retelling the story outside of the church walls, we are taking part in a process that changes us and transforms our lives, as well as those of others, and brings us, in the end, into closer relationship with each other and the God we worship here today.
Amen

Post Communion
God, the source of all holiness and giver of all good things:
may we who have shared at this table
as strangers and pilgrims here on earth
be welcomed with all your saints 
to the heavenly feast on the day of your kingdom;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Texts from Coventry Cathedral’s Tablets of the Word Part Seven by John Giles When the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father even the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of Me and ye also shall bear witness                  John 15.26 The Comforter, i.e., one who strengthens (Latin con-fort – with force, strength – there are no easy chairs here!). The word in Greek is that strange word from our Pentecost hymns: Paraclete. It means an advocate, one who can speak on our behalf and help us to say what we need and want to say better than we could just on our own. There is a hint here of the first persecutions that were inflicted upon the church. Christians might need to defend themselves before the authorities if arrested. Emperor Nero had used the Christians as scapegoats for the great fire in Rome in 64AD. Many were killed.  Peter and Paul had both been executed in Rome about that time, while St. John’s Gospel was not set down in writing till about 75 AD, a decade later. The experience of persecution already lay behind the Gospels, Paul’s Letters, and many other writings lost to us today. It was hard to find the right words to say what had been experienced and discovered in the time spent with Jesus and/or his first followers on the Way. New words were needed, first of course for Mission, telling others about the Good News of the Gospel; secondly to answer false accusations before the magistrates. That’s only the start.  Belief in the Holy Spirit also reflects the experience of the first Christians that when, in faith, God, Jesus and Disciples were all in a true relationship to one another, as was presumably the case on that first Pentecost, it would be just like getting the right tuning on a radio. Twiddle the knob to the right position and all sorts of good things could appear from nowhere – this was divine inspiration. And it produced results. Paul could speak of the Fruits of the Spirit in his letter to the Galatians (5.22)- things like love, joy, peace, fellowship between pretty unlikely people, mutual forgiveness, energy to put discipleship into practice, which might mean whole changes of direction in life. As for many it still does. In today’s terms a local church might decide to build a daughter church and hall on a housing estate, to start a youth club, to run a Mission, to fight crooked financiers, and so on. It is going on today however little attention such things get from the media. The possibilities are endless. It is called building the Kingdom of God. Behind all is the Holy Spirit, the Strengthener, the Comforter. Many would agree that in Christian worship one of the holiest moments of all comes at times of intense dedication: at Confirmation, at Ordination, at a Queen’s Coronation, as those truly iconic words of prayer rise up in the ancient hymn “Veni Creator Spiritus”, “Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire” – surely a vital prayer for the church today. Here is my second favourite Holy Spirit prayer: O Holy Spirit, giver of light and life, impart to us thoughts higher than our own thoughts, and prayers better than our own prayers, and powers beyond our own powers, that we may spend and be spent in the ways of love and goodness, after the perfect image of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.   Next week – Sunday 7th November Third Sunday Before Advent

NOTICES

Church of England and Diocese Online Worship There are many online services you can view from the Church of England and our cathedral. Here are some links below. Church of England website https://www.churchofengland.org/ prayer-and-worship/church-online/weekly-online-services Church of England Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/thechurchofengland/ Church of England YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/ channel/UCLecK8GovYoaYzIgyOElKZg St Edmundsbury Cathedral Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/stedscathedral

Weekly Benefice Newsletter If you would like something added to the weekly newsletter that is relevant to the Benefice, please do let Claire know and we will do our best to include it the following week.

Pilgrims Together on Wednesdays The Pilgrims worship together every Wednesday. You are all more than welcome to join them via Zoom.   The worship starts at 6.30pm (Zoom call opens from 6.10pm) and the call is then left open after the worship time for people to catch up.  The worship is about 30 minutes long.  We have a different worship sheet each week which goes out on a Monday ahead of the Wednesday.   People are welcome to email pilgrimstogether473@gmail.com  to receive a copy, or be added to our mailing list, or for more information. Pilgrims Quiz on Zoom – Saturday 27th October (not 20th) Please email Sue and Richard if you can provide a round: pilgrimstogether473@gmail.com  Our next Pilgrim Breakfast and Ramble is on  Saturday 6th November starting at the Parrot for breakfast from 9.30am. As before, a delicious breakfast bap and coffee / tea combo for £5 is on offer…definitely not to be missed!

Food Banks at the East of England Co-op  Foodbanks provide a valuable service to those in need in our communities. The Aldeburgh Co-op and Solar in Leiston are doing a grand job in collecting food donations, which are collected regularly and distributed. So please look out for the various collection baskets. The Trussel Trust Organisation Food banks in our network have seen an increase in the number of food parcels given out over the last year due to Coronavirus, so any donations are much appreciated. You can find out which items your local food bank is most in need of by entering your postcode here – https://www.trusselltrust.org/give-food/

Message from Ken Smith – Aldeburgh During the summer months we were able to keep the church doors open but now that the weather has changed and the leaves are falling, please keep the church doors closed. This will help with the heating cost and reduce the amount of leaves and debris collecting in the porch.