Thursday 3 September 2020

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

On Sunday 6th September we celebrate Creation Sunday, the beginning of Creation Season. There will be a special liturgy for the service, and Archana will be preaching. The church is again completely full! If you have booked a seat and, for whatever reason, you cannot attend on Sunday, please do let us know by texting either 077 495 7419 or 076 690 50 88 so that the seat can be used by someone else.

For those who are not able to attend in person, the service will be online from Saturday evening on: http://www.stursula.ch/Services/ Thank you, as always, to all those who enable the services in church and the online services to run smoothly.

Thank you to everyone who has completed the short church survey. We have had a very good and positive response. The council will be reflecting on the results next Tuesday and I will let you know about any proposed mid-week services in my email message next week.

Booking for next Sunday, 13th September, begins on Monday, through theonline link or through ringing or emailing the office.

The service next week will be followed by the Annual General Meeting at 11.30am. This is an important meeting in the life of the church when we reflect on the last year and look forward to the coming year and when we elect church officers. Please do come along. Please note that we have changed the time to 11.30am (instead of 12) so that people do not need to wait too long after the end of the service.

Creation Season
We are now in Creation Season and we will be reflecting over the next few weeks on the wonder of God's creation and our place within it. There will be opportunities to think, as Christians, about our responsibility to respond to the challenges of climate change and the environmental crisis. I will be suggesting different resources over the next few weeks. Here are some below:

Resources for Families and Children
During Creation Season our children's song will be All God's creatures have a place in the choir. The song is lots of fun both for children and for adults! There is a YouTube version here which you might want to look at with your children. I'll send out other versions in future emails.

Here are some podcast stories for children aged 3-9, telling the story of creation from Genesis 1 and 2 with words, music and actions.

Young People and Adults
This short 20 minute film is a thought provoking reflection on how much 'stuff' we have and the effects on the environment.

Jubilee for the Earth 'New Rhythms, New Hope': Talk and Discussion, Monday 14th September
Sarah French from the Christian Conservation charity A Rocha will give a talk and lead a discussion via zoom on Monday 14th September, 7pm. She will talk briefly about some highlights of A Rocha's work worldwide, explore the world challenges of biodiversity loss and climate emergency, reflect on the Jubliee for the earth theme, and look at practical actions we can take in our everyday lives at home, at work and in church. Please do join in as we think together about our call to care for God's earth at this challenging time. I will send out the zoom link next week.

Reflection: 'Consider the Lilies.' (Luke 12. 22-31)
The disciples are invited to consider, to notice, to learn from the lilies, not by a peremptory glance but by a long, feasting look. 'Consider' has about it the feeling of restful reflection, leisurely appreciation, a freedom of heart to gaze and wonder, and, in doing so, to discover truth. This kind of looking has to be for its own sake, not for any end-product; not with our greedy consumer-society tendency to do something with half an eye on what we can get out of it.

In considering the lilies, which obviously Jesus must have done himself, the disciples would discover a truth not only about trust, but, even more, about living provisionally - that is, as those for whom provision has been made.

Jesus singled out for special attention these ordinary, rather despised, parts of creation on which no one placed any value - field flowers, grass, sparrows - which could nevertheless become gateways to contemplation. These were to be the icons through which the disciples would penetrate the mystery of God's providence and protection, and discover hidden wisdom and truth about God's relationship with his creation. And they would do so by using the eyes of the body and the eyes of the understanding.'
(Jesus - Man of Prayer, Sister Margaret Magdalen)

With love in Christ,
Helen