PICTURING THE MAGI IN COOKHAM!
NADFAS lecturer Shirley Smith FRSA will be bringing the story of the Adoration of the Three Magi to life vividly in her illustrated lecture in the Church 7.30pm on Monday December 8th.This is a sequel to her ‘Picturing the Nativity’ talk in 2006 which was fascinating and much enjoyed. Shirley is giving us this talk for the benefit of ‘The Friends of Holy Trinity’ to help us attract new members, who may pay for admission with their minimum first year subscription of the £10 ticket price - which includes a glass of wine! Wine and the talk have been donated so all proceeds go to the Friends. Tickets from the Parish Office 01628 529661, David Harrold 483058, Ann Howard 486531, Colin Jackson 784166. Come for a super evening!

Soul Space extra: The Rosary
Earlier in the year we dedicated a Soul Space session to ‘Praying with the Rosary’.  As some will already know, every day of the week has associated with it a different set of Mysteries – and so we are planning to repeat ‘Praying with the Rosary’ but this time on a Thursday.  If you would like to join us in the Church at 8pm on Thursday 11th December please let Ryan or David Joynes know.

Christmas Flower Arranging Made Easy!
A demonstration by Lucy and Sue Barton on Wednesday 26th November at 7.30pm in The Parish Centre.  Wine and mince pies followed by a variety of different demonstrations and an opportunity to win some of the arrangements! Tickets available from the Parish Office (only 65 places so be quick!) at £12.00.

International Taizé Service
After a recent pilgrimage to Taize by a group of young people at St Luke’s they are organizing this special service. It will be at St Luke’s, Norfolk Road, Maidenhead, SL6 7AX at: 6.00pm on November 9. All ages & all nationalities welcome.
Needed: singers & readers able to help us by supporting the worship in different languages please contact Kevin via kbaug@hotmail.co.uk“Since my youth, I think that I have never lost the intuition that community life could be a sign that God is love, and love alone” - Brother Roger of Taize

Healing Eucharist
Our monthly Healing Eucharist is at Holy Trinity on Monday evening at 1930hrs. This is for everyone who feels in need of prayer or would like to pray for others. It is a quiet and reflective service which lasts about 40 minutes – all are welcome.

HOLY TRINITY LADIES GROUP
The AGM will be in the parish Centre at 20.00 on Thursday 13 November. Following the business part of the meeting Ryan will be enlightening all on his recent trip to Australia.

Diary This Week
Monday 10 November
14.00 Staff meeting P.Office
19.30 Healing Eucharist
Tuesday 11 November
09.30 Burial of Ashes - HTC
11.30 Trinity Nippers
18.45 Girl’s Choir Practice
20.00 Bell Ringers Practice
Wednesday 12 November
10.00 Holy Communion – SJB
17.00 Informal Prayers – HTC
18.45 Girl’s Choir Practice
19.45 HTC PCC in P Centre
20.00 Men’s – Choir Practice
Thursday 13 November
07.30 Holy Communion – HTC
20.00 Wedding Rehearsal - HTC
Friday 14 November
17.00 Choir Practice (Boys)
Saturday 15 November
19.30 Reading Male Voice
Concert - HTC
 
Just your time
Elizabeth House is holding a Volunteering Open Day from 3 to 6pm on Tuesday 18th November, and everyone is welcome. The 'new look' centre for our older residents is seeking more volunteers to help in a variety of ways, some only calling for an hour or less of your time.  The Open Day gives you the chance to look round the 'new' building and see if there is some way you can help - and you'll get a warm Elizabeth House welcome and a cup of tea.  If you want to let us know you are coming that will help (call Liz Dye on 01628 527621) but, even if you can't tell us in advance, just turn up.   And if you can think of someone else who might be interested, please let them know about this too.

1st Cookham Dean Brownies
Are looking for someone aged between 18 -65 to become a Guider. For full details and training information please contact: Hannah Dutfield on 07835 494492 or Kate Durham on 07810 481324 (you will need to have a CRB check)

PDF: PewNews091108.pdf

NEXT SUNDAY IS REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY
Please note the new timings for Remembrance Sunday.
At St John the Baptist’s Cookham Dean a shortened Parish Eucharist will begin at 9.15am and will conclude with a procession to the War Memorial for an act of remembrance and the laying of wreaths at about 10.10am.
At Holy Trinity, Cookham we gather at the War Memorial at 10.50am for an act of remembrance and the laying of wreaths, and then we will process to church for a shortened Parish Eucharist which I hope will begin about 11.15am. Please come to the War Memorial if you can, but if standing there and walking to church is too much for you please come to church as usual.

RELIGION AND POLITICS - avoid at all costs?
A talk by Rev’d Jeremy Hyde & Cllr Vicky Howes at the CHURCH OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD, COX GREEN COMMUNITY CENTRE Highfield Lane, Maidenhead. Saturday 8th November 7pm for 7.30 pm. Tickets:  £6 (to include two course supper) available from the Good Shepherd Church Office Tel:  01628 632567

PICTURING THE MAGI IN COOKHAM!
NADFAS lecturer Shirley Smith FRSA will be bringing the story of the Adoration of the Three Magi to life vividly in her illustrated lecture in the Church 7.30pm on Monday December 8th.This is a sequel to her ‘Picturing the Nativity’ talk in 2006 which was fascinating and much enjoyed. Shirley is giving us this talk for the benefit of ‘The Friends of Holy Trinity’ to help us attract new members, who may pay for admission with their minimum first year subscription of the £10 ticket price - which includes a glass of wine! Wine and the talk have been donated so all proceeds go to the Friends. Tickets from the Parish Office 01628 529661, David Harrold 483058, Ann Howard 486531, Colin Jackson 784166. Come for a super evening!

The Book Club
Is reading ‘The sixth Lamentation’ by William Brodrick.  We will discuss this book at a Bring and Share luncheon on Friday, 7th November at Spin-dlewood, High Road starting at 1230.  All welcome.

THE ARTS CAFÉ
FRIDAY 7th NOVEMBER 2008. Join us for 'BEHOLD' Behold, otherwise known as Steve Murray, an excellent Mime artist. Highly recommended and very entertaining. 8.15pm (doors open at 7.30pm - so come early to socialise with other Arts Café fans) Tickets: £5 - In advance from St Andrew's bookshop or reserve by phone - 01628 784960 or on the door. at High Street Methodist Church,   Maidenhead, SL6 1EF

Saved From Sacrifice: Jesus, Atonement and the Epistle to the Hebrews
This Thursday at the Parish Office @ 7.30 Scripting the Divine will take us into early understandings of Jesus, his identity and how God was at work in him reconciling the world to himself.  We will see how our weekly celebrations of the Eucharist connect us to the priestly ministry of Jesus; and ask questions as to what sacrifice is all about: the appeasement of an angry God, or the drawing together the fragments of a broken creation?  BE THERE!

Soul Space extra: The Rosary
Earlier in the year we dedicated a Soul Space session to ‘Praying with the Rosary’.  As some will already know, every day of the week has associated with it a different set of Mysteries – and so we are planning to repeat ‘Praying with the Rosary’ but this time on a Thursday.  If you would like to join us in the Church at 8pm on Thursday 11th December please let Ryan or David Joynes know.

Christmas Flower Arranging Made Easy!
A demonstration by Lucy and Sue Barton on Wednesday 26th November at 7.30pm in The Parish Centre.  Wine and mince pies followed by a variety of different demonstrations and an opportunity to win some of the arrangements! Tickets available from the Parish Office (only 65 places so be quick!) at £12.00.

International Taizé Service
After a recent pilgrimage to Taize by a group of young people at St Luke’s they are organizing this special service. It will be at St Luke’s, Norfolk Road, Maidenhead, SL6 7AX at: 6.00pm on November 9. All ages & all nationalities welcome.
Needed: singers & readers able to help us by supporting the worship in different languages please contact Kevin via kbaug@hotmail.co.uk“Since my youth, I think that I have never lost the intuition that community life could be a sign that God is love, and love alone” - Brother Roger of Taize

Diary This Week
Monday 03 November
20.00 Ministry Team at Vicarage
Tuesday 04 November
11.30 Trinity Nippers
18.45 Girl’s Choir Practice
20.00 Bell Ringers Practice
Wednesday 05 November
10.00 Holy Communion – SJB
17.00 Informal Prayers – HTC
18.45 Girl’s Choir Practice
20.00 Men’s – Choir Practice
Thursday 06 November
07.30 Holy Communion – HTC
19.30 Scripting the Divine
Friday 07 November
19.30 Wine Tasting Evening
18.00 Choir Practice (Boys)
Next Sunday 09 November
Remembrance Sunday
10.50 Parish Eucharist at the War Memorial, processing to HTC
11.15 approx at HTC
18.30 Choral Evensong
St John the Baptist
08.00 Holy Communion
09.15 Parish Eucharist followed by pro-cession to War Memorial
 
Just your time
Elizabeth House is holding a Volunteering Open Day from 3 to 6pm on Tuesday 18th November, and everyone is welcome. The 'new look' centre for our older residents is seeking more volunteers to help in a variety of ways, some only calling for an hour or less of your time.  The Open Day gives you the chance to look round the 'new' building and see if there is some way you can help - and you'll get a warm Elizabeth House welcome and a cup of tea.  If you want to let us know you are coming that will help (call Liz Dye on 01628 527621) but, even if you can't tell us in advance, just turn up.   And if you can think of someone else who might be interested, please let them know about this too. 
 
FAIRTRADE Open Days
On November 7th and 8th at The Vicarage, 259 Courthouse Road, Maidenhead from 10am-6pm selling lots of Fair Trade things.  It would be nice if we could support this event.

Reading Male Voice Choir
Here at HTC on Saturday Nov 15 (19.30) in aid of the Parkinson Disease Society. Tickets £8.00 Tel: 01628 488087

SJB's Autumn Fayre
On Sat 15th November. Cookham Dean Village Hall, doors open 10am, raffle draw 1pm. All the usual attractions – raffle, tombola’s, refreshments, bric a brac, books and CDs, Cakes, Home produce and things for the children! All proceeds to charity, which this year are:

• Emmaus Communities – providing housing & support for vulnerable adults in the UK
• Starlight – making wishes come true for seriously ill children
• Chris Nissen Primary School in South Africa – one of many struggling to get funds for books etc.

SCRIPTING THE DIVINE: INTO THE NEW TESTAMENT
on Thursdays in October and November we will be holding a three session course entitled 'Scripting the Divine': Into the New Testament.'  Here we will begin to open the pages of the New Testament and explore the powerful repercussions of Jesus' death and resurrection for the emerging early Church.  Our first session 'Ekklesia Unleashed' moves us from previous considerations of the Gospel of Luke into the Acts of the Apostles where we will consider the ongoing work of the Risen Christ in his Church.  Our Second session, 'Saved from Sacrifice' will take us into the evocative and esoteric world of the Epistle to the Hebrews to consider how the early Church understood Jesus' death.  Our final session, 'Apocalypse' will take us into the symbolic and subversive world of the Book of Revelation, to hear once more what the Spirit is saying to the Churches.  These three sessions are from 7.30pm - 9.15pm at the Parish Centre on Thursday 23rd Oct, 6th Nov & 20th Nov.  NOT TO BE MISSED!

WRESTLING FOR BLESSING
'Anglican Fracture: Can the Church of England Survive?' on Thursday at 7.30pm at the Parish Center the Rev'd Rod Green (curate of Christ Church Spitalfields) will be joining Father Ryan for a conversation about what the Evangelical and Catholic traditions within Anglicanism have to offer the future, and what the present difficulties are.  Come and have assumptions challenged and myths exploded!  Wine and nibbles available...

Ryan Is Heading Abroad (Next Year)
This week I was delighted to receive a formal offer from the diocese of Perth to become Rector at St Oswald's with St Michael and All Angels in Swanbourne.  The Parish itself has been without a building or a full time priest for the last couple of years (!) and will be beginning a building project soon, and hoping to grow their congregation in new and exciting ways.  I feel this is just the sort of thing I would love to be a part of and will be accepting the offer.  This means that I will be leaving the Benefice sometime in the New Year.  It's difficult feeling excited and sad all at the same time, but I ask you to hold me in your prayers during this time of transition.  Fr.  Ryan.

The Book Club
Is reading ‘The sixth Lamentation’ by William Brodrick.  We will discuss this book at a Bring and Share luncheon on Friday, 7th November at Spindlewood, High Road starting at 1230.  All welcome.

Watch out, watch out, Barbara’s about!
Barbara will be outside church again this week to try and contact as many people as possible who support her but she has been unable to contact all.  Over 500 sponsors is a lot, so please try and make it a bit easier for her!  The 38 hour fast is October31st and November 1st and 2nd so time is running out.

All Souls
On November 2nd at 18.30, we have our annual Service of remembrance for loved ones who have died. We will be inviting all the families we have taken funerals for over the past two years. If you would like to have names read out at that service of loved ones who have died please write their names CLEARLY on the list at the back of church. Many thanks.

Communion before confirmation
In both our churches we now welcome children who are baptised and regular members of our churches to share in communion. If some of our children would like to take this important step in their pilgrimage of faith and if they have the full support of their family we would like to invite them to join a new group we are setting up. The resources we have for preparing children for this important step are best suited to those in Key Stage 2 at school. Each session will last one hour and they will run on five Saturday mornings beginning on Saturday 8th November. The exact timings are still to be finalised but the sessions will probably start at 9.30am or 9.45am depending on what is most convenient for the families involved. If you would like to know more or sign up please speak to Fr Michael (523969) or Sue Harris (521201) or another member of the Ministry Team as soon as possible. We plan to welcome the children who share in the course to communion for the first time on Sunday December 7th at the main Parish Eucharist at both churches.

International Taizé Service
fter a recent pilgrimage to Taize by a group of young people at St Luke’s they are organizing this special service. It will be at St Luke’s, Norfolk Road, Maidenhead, SL6 7AX at: 6.00pm on November 9. All ages & nationalities welcome.
 
Diary This Week
Monday 27 October
20.00 Soul Space
Tuesday 28 October
11.30 NO TRINITY NIPPERS
20.00 Bell Ringers Practice
Wednesday 29 October
10.00 Holy Communion – SJB
10.45 Burial of Ashes - SJB
17.00 Informal Prayers – HTC
18.45 Girl’s Choir Practice
20.00 Men’s – Choir Practice
Thursday 30 October
07.30 Holy Communion – HTC
10.30 Funeral and Thanksgiving for the life of Hilda Bourne RIP - HTC
19.30 Scripting the Divine
Next Sunday 02 November
All Saints Sunday
08.00 Holy Communion
11.00   Parish Eucharist
18.30 Service of Remembrance for Loved ones who have Died.
St John the Baptist
09.15 Healing Eucharist
11.00 Matins
 
Praise the Lord!
The High Street Methodist Church in Maidenhead is looking for choir persons to sing at a concert of Hymns by John Wesley on March 22 2009. Full details are available from Tonythestock@btinternet.com or on 01628 630907

Just your time
Elizabeth House is holding a Volunteering Open Day from 3 to 6pm on Tuesday 18th November, and everyone is welcome. The 'new look' centre for our older residents is seeking more volunteers to help in a variety of ways, some only calling for an hour or less of your time.  The Open Day gives you the chance to look round the 'new' building and see if there is some way you can help - and you'll get a warm Elizabeth House welcome and a cup of tea.  If you want to let us know you are coming that will help (call Liz Dye on 01628 527621) but, even if you can't tell us in advance, just turn up.   And if you can think of someone else who might be interested, please let them know about this too.

Reading Male Voice Choir
Here at HTC on Saturday Nov 15 (19.30) in aid of the Parkinson Disease Society. Tickets £8.00 Tel: 01628 488087

THE ARTS CAFÉ
FRIDAY 7th NOVEMBER 2008. Join us for 'BEHOLD' Behold, otherwise known as Steve Murray, an excellent Mime artist. Highly recommended, and very entertaining. 8.15pm (doors open at 7.30pm - so come early to socialise with other Arts Café fans) Tickets: £5 - In advance from St Andrew's bookshop or reserve by phone - 01628 784960 or on the door. at High Street Methodist Church,   Maidenhead, SL6 1EF

PDF: PewNews261008.pdf

Holy Cross Day: 14th September
The cross on which our Lord was crucified has become the universal symbol of Christianity, replacing the fish symbol of the early church, though the latter has been revived in recent times. Early in the 4th century, pilgrims began to travel to Jerusalem to visit and pray at the places associated with the life of Jesus. Helena, the mother of the emperor, was a Christian, and while overseeing excavations in the city, is said to have uncovered a cross, which many believed to be the Cross of Christ. A basilica was built on the site which we know today as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was dedicated on this day in the year 335.

Vacancy Filled!
Fr. Michael is very pleased to announce that from Sept 1st, we have a new Verger. Terry Jackson has taken over the role with enthusiasm. We wish him well.

Reader Rotas
The Reader Rotas is being updated and it is hoped that a new rota covering the period October to December will be ready within the next two weeks.  Thereafter it will be published quarterly.  A letter to those currently on the rota has been drafted and will be distributed shortly.  New Readers are needed for both the 11.00 and 18.30 services and can be assured of a warm welcome. Please let me (Sue Harris) know if you would like to join us, either by seeing me at Church, by email at harris-sue@hotmail.com, or drop me a line via the Church Office.

Empty Screw-Top Wine Bottles
I am collecting these for a side stall at the Fayre in October. Please leave your contribution at the back of church on Sundays and I will collect. I won't count how many you bring! AH

Choir on Radio
Our choir was featured on this morning's 6am BBC Radio 4 programme "Something Understood", singing Deep within me (from the choir's most recent CD, That Cookham Sound). The programme is repeated tonight at 23.30. The choir is very proud to be featured on Radio 4 once again, following the inclusion of our recording of In dulci jubilo on "Desert Island Discs" in July. 

Today at 2.30PM
A service for the Spiritual Care for Older People (SCOP) Project
“Wisdom of Age” - A Service of Celebration and Thanksgiving for all older people, their families, carers and those who work with and for them. The Minster Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Reading. Preacher: The Bishop of Reading the Right Revd Stephen Cottrell. All welcome

Tonight 6.30-7PM
Rejoice in the Lord, a short service of music and contemplation. All welcome. (Music led by the boys and men of the choir)

New Beginnings
Last Sunday was great! Everyone was at St John the Baptist’s in good time to start at 9.15am – I did not spot anyone sneaking in at 9.28! I was delighted to see how many people came to the 11am at Holy Trinity – the whole service went well and it had a great atmosphere with a fantastic sense of community and fellowship. I know that this is only the beginning but let’s try and sustain this excellent start. Fr Michael

How to be Holy
Last week I preached about our calling to be Holy (the sermon is available in the previous post on our Website).To be Holy is to belong to God, to be empowered by God and to be devoted to God. It is to be ‘set apart’ for God. I said that our pursuit of holiness, our lives of faith, are far too important to be dictated by our whims or by our moods and that we should each have a ‘Rule of Life’ to live by. Here are a few thoughts about what a ‘Rule of Life’ should include.
Prayer – We should set aside some time each day to pray, to be still in the presence of God and to bring our thanksgivings and our concerns to God.
Bible – We should set aside some time each day to read the bible; this does not have to be a huge section, maybe just a few verses. There are plenty of resources available to help us engage with the bible daily, take a look at the Website for the Bible Reading Fellowship.
Worship – We should be going to the Eucharist once a week. Worshipping in a large congregation each Sunday is ideal but if this is not possible there are other services in our churches work in midweek (see the diary each week) and for those of you who London or other big cities many city centre Eucharist. Churches will have a midday Eucharist.
Community – We should all be contributing in some way to the community of which we are a part. There are endless opportunities to be involved in the life of the church but there are lots of other ways we can contribute to the wider community.
This is not an exhaustive list – a Rule of Life can include lots of other things as well, but I believe these are the basics. I know that some people have complicated lives and lots of pressures on their time and those regular daily and weekly commitments to do these things may seem unrealistic. If this is the case please think creatively about how you can structure a rule that will enable you to do all the things you have to do but will also enable you to grow in holiness and faith.
If anyone would like to talk through their plans for a Rule of Life please do not hesitate to contact me or another member of the Ministry Team. When a priest is ordained he or she is called ‘….to search for God’s children in the wilderness of this world’s temptations, and to guide them through its confusions …’). Helping people compose a Rule of Life is part of my job!
Fr Michael

Diary This 17th Week of Trinity
Monday 15th September
19.30 Sharing Life+meeting    Parish Centre
Tuesday 16 September
11.30 Trinity Nippers
18.45 Girls –Choir Practice
Wednesday 17 September
10.00 Holy Communion – SJB
17.00 Informal Prayers – HTC
19.45 HTC PCC in Parish Centre
20.00 Mens – Choir Practice
Thursday 18 September
07.30 Holy Communion – HTC
15.00 Service of Thanksgiving for the life of Lucia May Mayersberg HTC
Friday 19 September
17.00 Boys – Choir Practice

PDF: PewNews140908.PDF

This sermon was preached at both Holy Trinity and St John the Baptist's on Sunday 7th September 2008, the first Sunday of our new main Parish Eucharist times of 9.15am at St John the Baptist's and 11am at Holy Trinity. The guidelines on a Rule of Life referred to here are in the Pew News section for Sunday 14th September 2008.

Sermon – Trinity 16 Year A – SJB & HTC                                       2008

There is a great deal of emphasis on Evangelism in our Diocese at the moment. The latest advice is that all churches should appoint an Evangelism Champion. Someone to run a small group of people dedicated to planning and running Evangelistic events which will connect with people on the fringe of the church, or better still, will connect with those who never darken the doors of a church, and get them in. I am sure this is all good stuff and I know that lots of churches pour all their energy into Evangelism and what I say is good for them. As disciples of Jesus we are all called to be Evangelists.

Sometimes, however, I think it is good just to stop and think. If we were to run a hugely successful Evangelistic event and suddenly loads of new people started turning up Sunday by Sunday, what would they find? Well we all know what they would find in terms of our services, but what I am interested in is what they would find in us? How would we come across as individuals and how would we come across as community? Would they find a group people pretty much just like them and everyone else, or would they find people who are different, people who do things differently, people with different priorities, people with a different moral framework?

One of the things that the Bishops of the Anglican Communion discussed at the recent Lambeth Conference was ‘Personal Holiness’. This is what they said in their report after the conference,

‘Personal holiness is vital in the proclamation of the gospel … the cultural values of post-modern societies, especially their focus on individualism and relativity, challenge the teachings of Christianity, which is decidedly counter-cultural. The call to holiness of living becomes a greater challenge in this setting.’

When I read this it made me reflect on ‘Holiness’. What is it to be ‘Holy’? I think most of us think that it is only saints who are expected to be ‘Holy’, only elite Christians who can achieve ‘Holiness’.

In the Oxford English Dictionary, amongst other things, it says this as a definition of ‘Holy’ – ‘belonging to, empowered by, devoted to, God’, it also defines ‘Holy’ as ‘consecrated’ which is to be set apart for God. If this is what ‘Holy’ means then it is clearly something we should all be striving for and it is something we can all achieve. We belong to God through our baptism. We are empowered by God if we make some space in our lives for the Spirit to truly ignite and burn in us. We are devoted to God if we make space to pray, to read the bible, to worship regularly and to be still in God’s presence.

But what about being ‘consecrated’, ‘set apart’ for God. I think that this is more difficult, particularly when we are thinking about Evangelism. We tend to think that in order to connect with people we have to be like them or we have to do things with which they can connect and which they can understand easily. Some churches, have this down to a fine art. I once went to a church in Chicago that was massive – thousands of people went each week. The building looked and felt like a Shopping Mall, the services were held in a large auditorium with a stage. There was not a cross in sight, no Christian symbolism at all. The music was just like the music many people would listen to on the radio, mellow, easy listening, catchy little tunes. Everything was accessible and easy. It was an interesting approach and in many ways highly successful – it had many good things about it, but it was not Holy – the church experience there seemed to me to belong to, to be empowered by, and to be devoted to the culture of the day. Certainly the gospel was proclaimed but it was presented as just something else, in a society obsessed with consumerism, to be consumed.

We are called to be Holy, to be set apart, to be different, to be, as our Bishops have said ‘counter-cultural’. Yes we have to connect with people, we have to attract people – but we are not just dealing with a product to be consumed, we are sharing in nothing less than the revelation of God, a revelation which is constantly at work in us, transforming us, making us different, not as a self-righteous, pious elite, but as people belonging to, empowered by and devoted to God. Perhaps the most effective and honest evangelism is not to constantly try to present our faith in a worldly way, in a way that connects with today’s culture, but to present it as unashamedly ‘other worldly’ something that clashes with today’s culture and challenges us to be set apart, to live differently.

People describe our culture today as a ‘pick ‘n mix’ culture. We pick and choose what we want all the time. People today tend not to commit to anything, we like to keep our options open, to be able to do what we want to do whenever we want to do it. It is deeply unfashionable and counter-cultural for me therefore to start talking about a Rule of Life! But life is too precious to be lived on a whim. Life is too full of potential to be at the mercy of our ever changing moods. Life is lived in all its fullness if we are drawn into God and that only happens if we set ourselves a framework in which to live and priorities to live by, which we commit to, so that we can withstand the constant pressure of our changing moods, the changing fashions of our time and the ever changing pressures of our culture. A Rule of Life should have in it something about prayer, about bible reading and about worship – these are necessary priorities for us as Christians not options and they should be grounded in the community of faith, the church, because if we try to live a Rule of Life as individuals only we end up just making it as easy and unchallenging as possible – because alone, we are only human! I am going to write a few ideas for a Rule of Life in next week’s Pew News.

St Paul gives us a hugely helpful image in the passage from Romans we hear today. Holiness should not just be a Sunday thing, Holiness should be about our whole lives, the way we live our lives each day, attempts to be holy should not be governed by mood or whim but by a conscious commitment. It would be good therefore to associate holiness with something we do everyday – St Paul gives us the ideal image, ‘clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ’. We all get dressed everyday, whether we stroll into our walk-in wardrobe after a leisurely bath or whether we stumble around in the dark, dripping after a hurried shower, trying not to wake everyone else in the house – however we do it, we all do it, we all get dressed. I am considering having loads of stickers made with ‘clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ’ written on them for all of us to stick on our wardrobes or on our bathroom doors. Each morning we should be consciously putting on Jesus. We should not just be thinking about what image we want our clothes to convey, we should be thinking about how we can be Jesus to everyone we meet, how we can be holy, consecrated, set apart to incarnate the love and the compassion and the challenge of Jesus.

It is important what a Christian or a church does, it is important what a Christian or a church community achieves, but it is equally important, if not more important what a Christian or a church stands for, what we represent, what we manifest. We are called to be a Holy people. Not as a pious elite, but as a prayerful, open, God centred alternative to a culture which is for the most part achievement driven, inward looking and self-centred.

Perhaps our church should appoint an Evangelism Champion but before we do that I believe that we should all be working hard on our personal holiness so that every member of our church is a champion of holiness, committed to a Rule of Life which draws us into the mystery of God and leads us to live in line with God’s culture not the world’s!