Contents
Wait for the Lord
Growth in faith is rather like the growth. of children
Hello from Tina Molyneux
From the Registers
Wait for the Lord
reflections from the Revd Keith Nicholls
We live in the 'now' generation. Football managers are fired unless they achieve instant success - tomorrow I may find out if Fabio Capello will be the latest in a long line, should England fail to beat Slovenia.
As I write I have the radio on in the background: England is playing a one- day cricket international against Australia. How many more will there be, given that the even shorter 20:20 format is so successful?
The 'now' society
These days we borrow and buy now rather than save and buy later. This attitude gave rise to the financial crisis forming the background to the tough budget just announced. As individuals, banks and government we borrowed and spent with little thought to the future and now is the day of reckoning.
Emails and texts are replacing the letter. The pace of change accelerates as life becomes more and more hectic. During my curacy I lived in 'hurry scurry Surrey'. I have now moved to 'breathless, bustling Berks'. I wonder whether this 'doctrine of instant satisfaction' is really beneficial. Psychiatrist Carl Jung once commented, 'Hurry is not of the Devil, it is the Devil'.
Nowhere is the modern craving for the instantaneous more damaging than in matters spiritual. Author Richard Foster writes: 'In contemporary society our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry and crowds'.
A common criticism of church services is that they go on too long especially the sermons! We complain that we don't have time to pray or read the Bible or to come to worship - there is so much that we feel we have to do that we find it difficult to find time to reflect.
By contrast, Jesus made time and space to withdraw and spend quiet time with his heavenly Father. Throughout his busy life, with crowds demanding his attention all the time, he went out on the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. He told his closest friends, 'Come away to a deserted place to rest for a while'.
Strength from trust
'Be still and know that I am God', says the Lord through the psalmist. The old sage Jeremiah told his people: 'For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One ... In returning and rest you shall be saved, in quietness and trust shall be your strength'.
Amidst the hectic activity of modern life, we all need space to recharge our batteries and space to return to our God.
As the holiday season is almost upon us, my prayer is that we will all, once again, find a place of rest and, in the quiet, will hear the 'still, small voice of calm' that comes from God.
Keith
Growth in faith is rather like the growth. of children
The Rev'd Dilys Woodmore talks about faith journeys
It's always fascinating to hear other people's stories and experiences relating to their faith journey. Faith journeys will always be intensely personal and inter-twine with the passage through the various stages of our lives. The two journeys are inseparable, ebbing and flowing as we progress through life.
Possibilities
Faith journeys are open ended and as we find ourselves drawn towards the future, the endless possibilities lie before us, waiting to be discovered.
I have been re-visiting my own faith journey: it's a good thing to review from time to time. Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, I can see clearly not only the linear, horizontal progression through the various stages of my life but also the more difficult to quantify - vertical spiritual progression.
Faith development inevitably traces highs and lows; times of uncertainty and wilderness times when we question and doubt the existence of our faith.
It's when we face life-changing decisions that the intersection of the horizontal with the vertical form a'cross'and remind us that God is at work within us.
Growth in faith is rather like the growth of children. We have spurts that take us into exciting territory and times when nothing seems to be happening. Nevertheless, there will be a steady but unseen and unfelt preparation taking place, when deeper
foundations are being dug ready for the next spurt of dramatic growth.
God is gracious in his dealing with us. We are allowed to progress at a pace that is right for us. Sometimes we need to be gently nudged and at others given a wake-up call that we cannot ignore.
Family feeling
Next weekend will see the start of the next phase of Tina Molyneux's faith journey. 1 know she will be sharing some of her story with us and it's exciting for us all because, as a church family, we are part of that story.
The call to ordained ministry was one of the hardest decisions I had to make and I. know how grateful I was for the support of my family, friends and church family. I had become quite resourceful in thinking up reasons for why I should say 'no', but in the end the 'irritating stone in the shoe' became crippling and I could no longer deny the call. The growth spurt then really took off as I offered myself for selection and then training.
It's a fairly relentless journey being a priest, but it's a journey that is immensely rewarding and satisfying. We do need encouragement and support. Yes, we will make mistakes and have our own periods when we feel we are making no progress, but the one certainty is that God is alongside us to guide us forward. In my life, he has never let me down.
Seeds of vocation are planted and nurtured through our inter-action and relationships with all sorts of people. God moves in mysterious ways and we should never be surprised at how our lives are touched. Taking opportunities when offered, putting ourselves forward to help in all sorts of different ways, enjoying our freedom of thought and rejoicing in the gift of life we can sense that we are in tune with our Maker, Sustainer and Redeemer.
Take time to reflect on how God has been active in your life, how you have been helped to make difficult decisions, supported in times of trouble and pray that your faith journey will be enriched even more deeply in the time ahead.
Hello from Tina Molyneux
(or what is takes to be ordained)
By the time you read this, I will have been ordained deacon at Christ Church cathedral in Oxford. However, as I write this 'hello', ordination is still in front of me and I am contemplating the three days I'm about to spend, on retreat with the other 45 new Oxford deacons, in preparation for the big day. I'm told it is a time mostly spent in silent contemplation and prayer.
The thought of this fills me with trepidation, not only because of the preparation which goes into being away from my husband John and our 10 year old triplets, which is extensive believe me, but also because three days without speaking will be a novel experience, not to mention a challenge!
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Photos courtesy of Elaine Mordaunt and Michael Pickett
Novel experiences
To be honest, the last three years of my life have been full of novel experiences and challenges, ever since I shared with bemused friends that I was going to become a vicar, prompting the question 'WHY?'. I freely admit that looking at my previous career it doesn't seem to add up, but then I've always been hopeless at maths.
My background is in human resource management and management consultancy. When first embarking into the world of work I carefully chose who I wanted to work for and why. I looked for somewhere that I could make an impact, where hard work would be rewarded, somewhere with great prospects of promotion and a fast moving exciting place to he. As I follow my vocation to the church, I am aware that not many would say the Church of England necessarily ticks all of these boxes, but I have no doubt whatsoever that God has called me to serve him and you in this parish. The opportunity to change and enrich lives, to share the news that we are all loved and cherished and that we will each flourish (though not through pay rises) but by supporting each other, is genuinely exciting and irresistible to me.
I now hope that the three years I have been training on the Oxford Ministry Course will prove to have been time well spent. I've had the opportunity to learn alongside people representing the full breadth of the Church of England. This has expanded and deepened my respect and understanding of our worship and doctrine.
My study has included equal time spent on the New Testament and Old Testament themes. We have also followed courses on the history of the church, ethical issues facing us today, pastoral theology and doctrine. I have spent time on extremely rewarding placements in a different church and at Yeldall Manor, the alcohol and drug rehabilitation centre.
Well read
Whilst I've read over 150 books (I'm not talking thrillers here) and produced over 70,000 words of essays so far, I've just heard that curates must now continue some courses and that my essay writing is not over yet! I have learnt a great deal but still have more questions than answers.
1 greatly look forward to being your curate, to meeting many of you whom I don't yet know and sharing in the full and busy Iife of our Parish in the corning months.
From the Registers
Baptisms
June 6 Jack Kimber-Smith Hurley
June 12 Sylvie Corley Hurley
June 20 Rory McLaren Littlewick Green
June 27 Thomas Gibbons Stubbings
June 27 James Almond Stubbings
Interment of Ashes
June 28 Edwin and Jean Jones Stubbbings