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JUNE 2002

Dear Friends
By now, we are all well aware that this is the year of jubilee, and this month sees the 50th anniversary of our Queen’s coronation.

What a wonderful word is ‘Jubilee’ – jubilation, joy, celebration, and rejoicing. On a national level, there will be many celebrations in the country as our beloved Queen celebrates her golden jubilee. Locally, St James is joining in with the Garlinge Village Community celebrations, including a day-long street party, continuous barbecue and much more. Please offer help in person or kind to Nick or Louise – helpers are urgently needed – just to be there for an hour or two will be invaluable.

What does the Bible have to say about jubilee? The concept begins with the ‘Sabbath’ or ‘seventh’. In Genesis we are told that after 6 days of creation, God ‘hallowed’ the seventh day – i.e. made is very special as a day of rest and recuperation. The same principle is applied to the land, though on a seven yearly basis; in Lev. 25, we read that for six years the land can be sown and harvested, but on the seventh year the land must rest. Bumper crops were produced in the sixth year to supply demands for the seventh and into the eighth year while the land lay fallow and rejuvenated.

The jubilee year was celebrated during the year following seven ‘annual’ Sabbaths, 7x7=49, so the fiftieth year was the big one. It all began with the ‘Day of Atonement’ and went out from there. All property which had been previously purchased was returned to the original owner. The principle of leasehold was strictly applied to prevent the land being owned by only a few; but best of all, servants and slaves were offered their freedom, so quite naturally there was much celebration and rejoicing, but how does all this affect us?

Well, surely the greatest ever jubilee began on the greatest ever Day of Atonement, when Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world, in order to offer us freedom from the slavery and servitude of sin. Amazingly, some of those servants and slaves rejected the offer of freedom – their future was uncertain and they did not know where they would go. How incredible, yet how many today, reject freedom which Jesus offers to everyone with a cast iron guarantee of certain future and destination, namely eternity in Heaven.

We can all experience a spiritual jubilee that can only be celebrated by accepting Jesus as our personal saviour.

I do sincerely hope that all who read this will know the true and eternal meaning of jubilee joy and freedom,
Peter Reed


MAY SERMON TAPES
All tapes of the sermons preached on Sunday mornings and evenings in May are available on request from Elizabeth and Nigel Hadley (Tel: 831067) as usual.

GOLDEN WEDDINGS

We want to thank all our friends at St James Church for their cards, good wishes and flowers on the occasion of our 60th wedding anniversary.

We had a great celebration weekend with the family and a few old friends and also enjoyed a spell of beautiful weather.

The short blessing ceremony during the Sunday service with Canon Jim Fry on the 21st April was just the ‘icing on the cake’!

We greatly enjoyed being part of the Fellowship and as Dr. Billy Graham used to say, “May the Lord bless you – real good”.
Len and Ruby Haggerty

Ken and Pat Taft are celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary on 7th June 2002.

COOKERY CORNER
Glazed Ham Steaks with a Fruity Sauce (serves 4)
Ingredients:
4 ham steaks, about 1cm thick
1tsp dry mustard
2tbsp brown sugar
2tbsp honey
½tsp ground ginger
425g can peach halves in light syrup
Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 10 minutes
Preheat the grill and remove excess fat from the ham steaks. Slit the edge of the steaks at 1cm intervals to prevent them curling up while cooking. Mix the dry mustard and brown sugar with the honey and ginger and add 2tbsp of peach syrup from the can of peaches. The rest of the syrup can be discarded as it is no longer needed.
Place the steaks on a grilling rack and cook, basting with the peach, mustard, ginger and honey syrup mixture every few minutes. Allow at least five minutes cooking time for each side of the steak – but it is down to personal judgement as to when they are cooked properly.

Serve on a decorative platter garnished with peach halves. Ham goes well with a variety of fruit. Why not try pineapple, apple or prunes if you want to try something other than peaches?


ARCHDEACON’S VISITATION ADDRESS – 2002

I greet you all – churchwardens of experience and wardens newly elected, sidespersons, Church Council members here with your clergy and others in your congregation. I hope that our experience of worship shared with others across the deanery in this holy place will remind us of our common life and faith and be an encouragement for the tasks to which God has called us and for which he generously strengthens us.

Thank you for the friendship, encouragement and welcome extended to me and Jane during these first three months in the Canterbury Archdeaconry and here in the Cathedral. I already know many of you and some of the parishes but there are others whom I have yet to meet and there are a fair number of churches which I need to find as well. Some of you will be facing new responsibilities and wondering how it’s all going to work out, the new relationships, the different expectations. We are amongst Christ’s friends together as we meet and it is with that sense of partnership that we know we will bear one another up, forgiving one another and always helping one another to set out on new paths with purposefulness and I hope a light heart. I hope I have a light touch rather than a heavy hand – and yet I know there are weighty decisions that have to be made – overall I hope that I will discharge my pastoral, administrative, legal responsibilities, all my worship involvements across the archdeaconry with a sensitivity to things of the Spirit.

So where do I start? I want to start with God in Jesus Christ. I doubt that I would have come back into faith and the life of the Church in my early twenties without my experience of God’s grace, generosity and extravagance. Some of you will have read the Archbishop’s Lent book this year by David Day (Pearl Beyond Price) in which he reminds us of the lavish limitless generosity with which and with whom we are engaged. He reminds us how the Psalmist tells of us of the magnificence of creation and then for instance reminds us of John who in telling us of the feeding of the thousands speaks of Jesus who distributes as much bread as they wanted – John doesn’t intend us to imaging just a little something – as much as they wanted. And we have John again telling us about the wedding feast at Cana – preachers love it – calculating the volume of wine involved. What is it that tweaks the finest vintage for one little wedding party in a backwater village. What does it mean? We are overwhelmed by the extravagance and we find we are embraced by a God who seems to have no idea of what would be sensible, within reasonable limits. It is frankly irresponsible, breaks every known boundary of common sense and business planning and the potential for horse play, drunkenness and goodness knows what is enormous! God of all people ought to stop before everyone ends up under the table! And not content with wine he seems to do it with fish as well. Do you remember the story recorded in both Luke and John about the nets breaking? Over the years all of us in our own time have sung Cwm Rhondda which catches the mood. ‘Bread of heaven, bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more’. And like you, I go into vocal overdrive quite happily with those who sing and watch rugby at Cardiff Arms Park!

And the parables too scattered like pebbles across the gospels tell us again about lavish parties, kings setting aside massive debts, wealthy landowners turning over the management to the servants and ...... I start with the generosity of God.

The story of a creating and recreating God who gives himself away, let’s go to taste and touch life on this earth and then gives himself away in Jesus death and then gives himself to the world in every generation though His Spirit.
And I remain convinced that no amount of slick planning, strategic thinking, budget reviews, deanery or PCC meetings, no one thing in which we are all involved, the life of our local churches and other places of worship and Christian work and ministry, none of these systems and processes are going to be worth much unless they are underpinned by core Christian values and are understanding the sort of God it is in whom we believe. I am quite aware that to focus on grace, generosity, openness, self-giving, may be only to reflect on some aspects of the nature of God but I believe the Biblical witness and the Christian tradition will affirm that we need to be rooted in these things.

I know we have to be business like, I know we have to be efficient and properly organised. I know we need to have an idea as to the direction in which we are travelling., I know that we have to be good and proper stewards of all that’s entrusted to us, I know we have to live in this world and God knows that too. So there is no excuse for us not to be well focussed in our deaneries and within the wider life of the diocese. We know these things. I affirm them and much of my life is spent working with all these things. Yet my experience also is that we often lose sight of God. We lose sight of the foundation stones of the Church. We’ve heard the stories so often that we are numbed by the repetition so that the breath taking generosity of God himself becomes a faded dream and a memory of yester-year.

So I guess I’m looking for these sorts of core values to underscore all that we are on about in the life of our diocese and churches. May I give you some examples.

I could wish that we as clergy could more often be and be seen to be more open with one another, trusting and encouraging. We need to be the sort of people who given the mantle of ordained leadership can model in our own lives something of God’s grace. It’s about openness in all our relationships in our settings for ministry, an openness that speaks of collaboration and support rather than suspicion or competition. But it’s also for all of us. I believe that for every single one of us our baptism as pledged followers of Jesus Christ requires us in the discipline of discipleship to check out and/or be checked out by others about our growth in grace.

I pray that within the life of our local churches and our deaneries as we wrestle with complex and demanding issues and stewarding our resources, financial, ministerial and personal that we could just be a bit more generous with one another. It’s about listening, it’s about caring, it’s about understanding, it’s about trust and owning a common vision of God’s work in our deanery and local cluster of parishes.

I pray that we are generous in our attitudes to and working with our sisters and brothers in the ecumenical scene. Again, it’s about building trust in our relationships and knowing that the stakes are too high in this country for us to arrogantly often just paddle our own canoes without reference to other traditions. It’s about welcome, hospitality, sharing tasks, finding in love the common ground. I pray that we might be yet more the sort of people who are prepared to travel with other organisations both statutory and voluntary in our communities that we might together make some difference to the quality of life in our communities. I pray that we shall continue to openly deepen our partnerships in ministry, clergy and lay folk, partnerships across clusters and deaneries, partnerships that seek to make the best connections between faith and the communities of the world in which we are set and open to partnerships that are simply good because it’s better to travel together than alone.


THANET BIBLE WEEK

Once again, St James is hosting this event which will run from Wednesday 12th to Saturday 15th June. There will be four evening meetings, commencing at 8pm in St James Church. The first two (Wednesday and Thursday) will be led by Rev. Phillip Hacking whilst the second two (Friday and Saturday) will be led by Rev. Gwynn Williams.

In addition, there will be two lunch time seminars to be held in the Church Centre – Thursday 13th June, 12noon, studying 1 Peter with Phillip Hacking and Saturday 15th June at 12 noon, studying 2 Corinthians with Gwynn Williams. The seminars are principally for church leaders but all are welcome. Please bring a packed lunch.

This is an excellent opportunity for teaching and fellowship with other Christians from Thanet and also for introducing non-Christians to the Word of God.

Tapes of all the meetings can be ordered in the usual way.


Why do birds sing?

Why do birds sing high up in the trees
While they sway in the breeze?

Why does grass grow
So it covers your big toe?

Why do we talk
And listen while we walk?

Why do snails have a shell on their back
And leave a slimy track?

Why – because God made all this!

By Hannah Jaquiss
(Aged 9)

SUMMER FETE
Another reminder that this year’s Summer Fete will be held on Saturday 6th July at St James Church Hall (Old School Hall), Garlinge starting at 10.30am with free admission.

As mentioned in last month’s magazine, we will need volunteers particularly as the Cubs and Scouts will not be attending due to commitments elsewhere.

Hopefully, all our usual stalls will be there to offer their usual delights, but to make them successful they will depend once again on the generosity of the congregation of St James and other supporters.

So handicrafts, books, cakes, toiletries, toys, bric-a-brac, garden produce, groceries, jewellery and full bottles for the Bottle Bank will be much appreciated. If you can start collecting please do and let us know.

Please also let us know if you can and are prepared to help in any way.

WAM & TAM

DAILY PRAYER

Dear Lord –
I’m proud to say, so far today
I’ve got along all right;
I have not gossiped, whined or bragged,
Or had a single fight.

I haven’t lost my temper once,
Or criticised my mate,
I have not lied, I have not cried,
Or loudly cursed my fate.

So far today I’ve not one time
Been grumpy or morose,
I’ve not been spiteful, cold or vain,
Self-centred or verbose.

But, Lord, I’m going to need Your help
Throughout the hours ahead,
So give me strength, Dear Lord, for now
I’m getting out of bed.


THE FUTURE OF THE PARISH MAGAZINE

“Times they are-a-changing” goes the old refrain and I wonder if this is true in respect of the Church magazine. The cover of the magazine proclaims “News and Activity” and whilst there is plenty of the latter there is precious little of the former.

It has been my opinion that the magazine should be about St James and by the people of St James. However, readers may have noted that we rely on many articles from outside the parish. So it begs the question “Do we continue the old format or change our whole thinking about the role of the magazine?”

There is certainly no shortage of written material for those who attend church e.g. Weekly Newsletter and other information about events in the life of the church and so the monthly magazine may be superfluous.

There are two more considerations I would like to bring to your attention. The first is the cost. Our last set of accounts showed the magazine running at a loss (although this may be due to all the receipts having not been credited to the correct place due to a lack of information). Can we continue to afford a ‘loss leader’? The second is our responsibility to our advertisers. We should ensure all copies of the magazine are distributed but sadly this is not the case.

So what do we do? Do we reduce the number of pages in the magazine or, perhaps, produce it, say, quarterly?

Or, perhaps an even more outrageous suggestion, rely on more reports on a regular basis about the activities of St James, so as to keep the magazine alive and kicking.

If anyone reads this and has any suggestions, positive or negative, I would be extremely grateful to hear from you. Is this space worth watching?
WAM

WANTED! YOUR OLD MOBILES!
The Mission to Seafarers is trying to encourage us all to do a bit of recycling. They are currently asking people to send in any old mobile telephones. Any phones sent off for recycling can raise approximately £5 towards the Mission’s work. Mobile phones that are simply thrown away pollute the environment with toxic substances. Better still, the recycled phones are sent to developing countries where the landline infrastructure is weak. So it’s not just the Mission you are helping.

In addition, the Mission can also recycle used computer ink-jet cartridges. If you have either of these items and you’d like to send them in please contact the Mission on 020 7248 5202 or e-mail: sally@missiontoseafarer.org


KIDSPLUS HOLIDAY CLUB

This year the holiday club will be held in the Garlinge Hall on 27th to 30th August from 2-4pm each day with a Parents evening on the Friday night, 7-8pm.

It is for all children who are at school and aged 5-11years. The theme for the week is the Big Big Story an overview of why Jesus had to come, to die to save us.

As usual, we would be grateful if you could search out those cupboards to see if you have any of the following items which we would like to use either as props or in the craft sessions. Every year we are amazed at what we can ask for and find someone has stored them ‘for such a time as this’.

Boat, rabbit and chicken biscuit cutters.
Individual cereal boxes or similar small boxes.
Small foil dishes (those that Yorkshire puddings come are ideal)
A captain’s hat
Pilots or balloonists gear.

We would also like to encourage you to pray for this work as we seek to spread the gospel among children who do not normally have contact or only very limited contact with the Church. We will have some prayer cards to help remind you of this outreach available at the beginning of July. Members of the congregation who wish to come and support us at the Parent’s evening and see what we have done during the week will be more than welcome.
Marion Clarke

The more you love
The more you’ll find
That life is good
And friends are kind
And only what we give away
Enriches us from day to day
Helen Steiner Rice


CHILDREN’S PAGE ANSWERS:
Hidden Names: How many of the following did you find? David, Obed, Andrew, Silas, Leah, Lois, Esther, Lydia, Paul, Esau, Samsom, Eli
“Dare to be a Daniel”: Dreamed, Azariah, Refused, Eternal, Tremble, Outward, Babylon, Enemies, Abstain, Deliver, Ability, Nothing, Inherit, Example, Liberty.

STRAWBERRY TEA
The Strawberry Tea this year will be held on Saturday 22nd June in the Church Centre, starting at 3.30pm and finishing at 5pm. As this event is open to all, please take this opportunity to invite your friends and neighbours. Tickets will cost £2.50 each and, in the event of any queries, please contact Phil Johnson on 831469.


SATURDAY SHOP

The Saturday Shop in May raised £198.66 including proceeds from the sale of plants and vegetables. To those people in particular who grew and donated the plants our very grateful thanks, which are extended, of course, to all the others involved in any way. We must remember, too, to give thanks to our heavenly Father for His continued goodness to us all.


JESUS SAID: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me” and “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14: 1, 27




AS EASY AS ‘ABC’.....

Once I heard a child praying. His words made no sense. All he was doing was repeating the alphabet.

“Why are you saying your ABC’s so many times?” I asked him.

The child replied, “I’m saying my prayers.”

“Prayers? All I hear is the alphabet.”

“Well, I don’t know all the words, so I give God the letters. He knows what I’m trying to say.”

JUNE DIARY

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