When brave youngsters
testified to their faith by wearing a badge to school bearing the words Jesus
Saves!, the standard, if highly unoriginal, response from classmates used to be
‘Which bank?’ Nowadays, the response might be related to recycling and be more
on the lines of ‘Jesus saves what? Paper? Cans? Plastic bottles?’ If the young
in our society have moved on to thinking first of recycling, rather than money,
that is progress, although wilful neglect of the importance of the salvation
that Jesus offers remains very sad. Would a 21st-century Jesus have
saved his bottles, cans, and more for recycling? Our Lord was not one to respond
to advertising, lay-up stores of groceries or accumulate material things, so He
wouldn’t have had much to recycle. However, bearing in mind His relationship
with God the Father, creator of the heavens and the earth, and His closeness to
nature, it seems likely that He would have favoured thoughtful disposal of
unwanted items, and re-use where possible.
The launch of
MESSY CHURCH in Chudleigh on Saturday
4th February provides a new opening for re-use of some materials even
before they are sent off for recycling. Cardboard tubes (sorry, not those from
toilet rolls), any paper that could be used for painting and drawing, and other
materials suitable for children’s craft work will all be very welcome. A
collecting point has been established in the church porch, and Saturday 4th
will provide a first demonstration of some of the imaginative and creative
things that can be done with these materials. Messy
Church
coordinator Rachel Tuckett would also welcome offers to make cake. But please
see Rachel before rushing for the baking tins, as she would like to balance the
various offers so that every MessyChurch session has just
the right amount, neither too much nor too little.
Messy
Church is
from 3.30pm to 5.30pm and will involve creative work, food and an element of
worship suitable for children. All children and their parents are warmly
invited. (If you don’t qualify under either of those headings, you can volunteer
as a helper!) Further sessions have been set for 3rd and 31st
March, but do come to this first one if you can. MessyChurch
is already quite a movement nationally, with some international groups too, so
you could find yourself very glad in years to come to have been in on the very
first MessyChurch in Chudleigh.
You can also be a part of
some lively activity in ChudleighChurch
on an every-week basis in term time with
WAKE UP TO WORSHIP! The theme this term is The Startling Sayings of Jesus.
This month we will be considering ‘Anyone
who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it’;
‘Let the dead bury their own dead, go and
proclaim the kingdom of God’; ‘Do you
think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division’; and ‘Any
of you who does not give up everything you have cannot be my disciple’. We
look forward to learning more about the meaning and implications of these
sayings; also to the music, drama, children’s activities and worship that our
energetic and imaginative presentation teams will lead us through as we examine
the sayings. Wake up to Worship! is at 9.30am on all four Sundays this month.
The first saying detailed
above, ‘Anyone who will not receive the
kingdom
of God like a little child
will never enter it’, is particularly appropriate for the day, 5th
February, which is EDUCATION SUNDAY.
Something newfangled? Well, actually, no. The history of Education Sunday as a
national day of prayer and celebration extends back more than 100 years. Perhaps
we have neglected it during decades when a good, free education for everyone was
taken for granted. Education in the UK remains streets ahead of the late
nineteenth century, and even the mid-twentieth century, but there are many areas
of present and future concern, so let’s all take this opportunity to pray for
everyone involved in education, from pre-school tinies through teachers at all
levels, to politicians and civil servants with educational responsibilities.
And, yes, celebrate all that has been and is being achieved. As the teachers’
union poster said some years ago, ‘If you can read this, thank a teacher.’ Our
acknowledgement will in itself serve as an encouragement for them.
Like Chudleigh, Chudleigh
Knighton and Trusham both make specific provision for children and young
families in the course of their Sunday service programmes. Chudleigh Knighton’s
first FAMILY SERVICE this month falls
on Education Sunday. This is particularly
appropriate as the church, also like Chudleigh, is closely associated with the
village school. The other Chudleigh Knighton Family Service this month is on
Sunday 19th and all services in
St Paul’s this month are at 9.15am. Trusham, in turn, has
All Age Worship at 10.00am on Sunday 26th. As ever, all welcome, and
expect a fun time.
Easter Sunday is on 8th
April this year, which means Lent, the season of preparation for Holy Week and
Easter, begins with ASH WEDNESDAY on 22nd February. We will mark the day with
a 7.30pm service of Holy Communion at ChudleighChurch.
This service is designated a ‘three church’ service, i.e. it is provided for
Chudleigh Knighton and Trusham too; a joint service. As in previous years, there
will be the option at communion of receiving a mark made from the ashes of last
year’s palm crosses, an ancient tradition known as the Imposition of Ashes.
And if it’s Lent, then
there must be a LENT COURSE. Indeed
there is; in fact there is a choice of two. Paul Wimsett has introduced the two
courses, ‘Handing on the Torch’ and ‘Everybody Welcome’ in Vicar’s Viewpoint.
When Chudleigh News went to press,
dates, times and venues were still being finalised, but as Lent approaches they
will be advertised on church notice sheets and elsewhere. If those sources of
information somehow pass you by, do ask Paul, another member of the clergy team,
a churchwarden or sidesperson where and when the courses are being held. Some
information about the course material can be seen on the Internet. Handing on
the Torch is at
www.yorkcourses.co.uk/course.aspx?id=af3dcee6-c4d4-498b-a69b-3cbb64e5302c and
Everybody Welcome has a related video on
www.chpublishing.co.uk/feature.asp?id=2394893. It is also possible to ‘Look
Inside’ the leader’s manual for Everybody Welcome via the Internet book retailer
Amazon. The quick way to reach that is to go to www.Amazon.co.uk and put the
book’s ISBN number, 0715141902, into Amazon’s search line.
We suggested in our opening
paragraph that re-using and recycling materials is in accord with Christian
principles. Another feature running alongside our 21st-century way of
life that surely also concurs with Christian teaching is the
FAIRTRADE movement. In 15 years, the
number of different Fairtrade products available and the number of shops
stocking them has grown enormously. Originally, the focus was on tea, coffee and
cocoa products. Those items are still important, but they have been joined by
many others. Believe it or not, there are now more than 3,000 Fairtrade
products. The value of Fairtrade bananas sold exceeds that of Fairtrade coffee,
and Tate and Lyle has switched all its retail cane sugar products to Fairtrade.
Fairtrade Fortnight this year is from 27th February to 11th
March and on Sunday 26th February Margaret Parsons will once again be
selling a large selection of Traidcraft goods from the organisation with the
widest selection of Fairtrade items, in ChudleighChurch.
She will be present herself, offering information and advice, and willing to
take orders whilst coffee and tea (Fairtrade, of course) are being served
between the 9.30am and 11.00am services on that day.
![[Under Construction]](images/undercon.gif)
