The new hymnbooks are here. They are very versatile, having not only hymns but also various excerpts from Common Worship. By the time you read this we will have tried both a 'service of the word' and a communion using the hymnbook for most of the service. This ability to use the new hymnbooks to replace service sheets creates something of a dilemma. Do we use the new books instead of service sheets on a regular basis, or do we continue to print service sheets for each Sunday? Some find the "continual moving" to a different page "off-putting" and prefer a service sheet (by the way, much the same problem would occur if we were to use the Common Worship book), while others think we produce too much unnecessary paper! If you feel strongly about this please let any council member know your views.
Whichever way we use the new hymnbook, the important thing is that it will enhance our worship, as the positive responses so far have already proved. New hymns have been tried and appreciated, and the book contains some songs that we have been singing for some time but which were not in either of our hymnbooks.
There is still the opportunity for you to pay for and dedicate a book in memory of a loved one. See Sam, Lynne or Tricia if you wish to do this.
As predicted in the last magazine, the 'crisis' over the budget shortfall is over - thank you to all who responded so generously - but the underlying need remains for more secure income from pledges. More on this next month, which ends with our 'Harvest and Pledge Sunday'; but in the meantime another means of supporting our church (in more than one way) is coming up on 11 September - another 'new look' BOOK SALE. This will be the last book sale this year - except for the Christmas Bazaar (on Friday 19 and Saturday 20 November). Next year we plan to have regular book sales.
These book sales have three objects: raising funds, making St Ursula's better known in the English speaking community, and providing a non-threatening point of contact for those outside the church community to get to know some of our church members. For this to succeed we need an adequate supply of three things: books (and food) to sell, people to organise the whole event (including advertising), and enough church members, with no particular task on the day, to be available to talk to newcomers. Volunteers who can meet any of these three needs should contact Sue Higson, or Sharon at the Church Office. And, of course, we also need an adequate supply of people to simply come - to buy books!
It may not be too late to book for SACEP. SACEP? The Swiss Archdeaconry Christian Education Programme. This organizes various training events each year, for both clergy and laity. On Friday evening and Saturday 17-18 September there will be a residential seminar at Crêt-Bérard near Vevey (or you can come for the day). Our speaker is Carsten Thiede, an Anglican priest who is Professor of New Testament History at a Basel Theological College and Director of the European Office of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel. The seminar aims to encourage us to "'rediscover' the New Testament with 1st century eyes and to apply the insights to a modern understanding."
An historian and papyrologist, he has argued that two fragments from the Qumran caves are part of Mark's gospel and 1 Timothy respectively. As all the Qumran writings were written before AD 68 and deposited in the caves, this has some more than interesting consequences for dating all the New Testament writings. Many scholars have suggested that Mark's gospel was written after 70 AD and that all the other NT writings came later (1 Timothy as late as the 2nd Century!). The (in)famous John A T Robinson (of Honest to God fame) proposed re-dating all the NT writings to the period between Jesus' death and 70 AD (Redating the New Testament (1976)). Carsten Thiede would appear to have provided the evidence to prove him right.
Professor Thiede is currently taking part in the fourth session of a dig near Jerusalem, which he has been directing since 2001, and we will be among the first people to learn the results of that dig.
If you are interested, there are brochures in the Upper Hall, or call the Church Office to book in.
As I was finishing this article we received the sad news of the death of one of our most faithful church members, Hilda Grant. We thank God for her life of witness and service to Him. We shall miss her, but rejoice in the promise of eternal life that is now hers. We pray that her family and close friends will know the comfort and peace of Christ.
Yours in Christ,
Richard Pamplin