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Rev. Martyn Cripps, March 2011 Magazine article.
New Beginnings
FEBRUARY WAS a month of change as we got used to the new service structure, received in good will by the vast majority of church members although not without some misunderstanding. Let me clarify two of them: Readers are not permitted to conduct Communion Services and have never done so despite claims to the contrary; Michael Walters still holds the Bishop’s Licence but he is retired and is not a full time stipendiary cleric within the parish.
Our change however is insignificant compared to the threat of redundancy faced by thousands of people as the Government cuts kick in. Their uncertainty looms large. The loss of income, place, and belonging leaves them shaken. An entrepreneur who lost his business and home said that the most difficult aspect “was not knowing where ‘rock bottom’ would be”! Change is never easy, particularly when it is not due to our own choice, but something that is decided for us. We would love all that is good to last.
Yet, we know that to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. It includes a time to pluck up what is planted and a time to lose (Ecclesiastes 3). The author of this book does not only sketch a seasonal perspective, but also paints the bigger picture that overarches every season. God has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men. Yet, they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
And that‘s it. We don‘t always understand. We cannot always see the end. At times we can‘t even see the new beginning. But like winter is followed by spring, a new season will come. The rhythm of life will continue. In the bleaker winter of life, we remember that the seeds are already lying dormant, waiting to sprout in spring.
In the moment of crisis, directions may become unclear and may even be contradictory. It is quite an art to live wisely and recognise new beginnings. For what is new won‘t usually be announced by the appearance of angels and bright stars in the sky. Life is more subtle than that. There are journeys we have begun that have brought us greater riches and refinement; but we had to travel through dark valleys of difficulty and suffering.
Beginnings are new horizons that want to be seen; they are not regressions or repetitions. This year, 2011, will include thresholds of change we had not anticipated, opportune times within life‘s chronology. It requires minds that are open to new frontiers and courage to shape new landscapes. It needs the perceptive to recognise the new things that God is doing. And it presumes time to watch, listen and learn (Isaiah 43:19, 50:4).
As Martin Luther King said, we may not know what the future holds, but we do know who holds the future. May our God who has made everything beautiful in its time and who set eternity in our hearts, give us courage and an inquisitive mind as we move forward.
Notice of the APCM
The Annual Parochial Church Meeting will take place on Sunday 17th April at 12.00 noon following the 10.30am service.
At this meeting, reports covering 2010 will be presented by the Wardens, Secretary and the Treasurer as well as details of Deanery Synod meetings and Electoral Roll numbers. The Rector will also present his annual statement.
All present will be welcome to listen to proceedings, but only those on the Electoral Roll are entitled to ask questions or take part in voting. Please check the Electoral Roll, a copy of which is in the porch, and if you are not yet on it and wish to be so then complete an application form and give it to either the Rector or one of the Wardens. Details of who is entitled to apply appear on the form.
As part of the proceedings the Wardens are elected (for 1 year from May) as well as PCC members in respect of whom there are 5 vacancies for the full 3 year term of office and 1 vacancy for a 2 year term of office.
If you would wish to be considered for election and would like to know more of what is involved please speak with the Rector or either of the current Wardens. Proposal forms are available at the back of church.
Jenny Brown. PCC Secretary
Czech Adventures
AFTER OUR fellowship lunch, members listened o a talk by our Rector, Martyn Cripps and his wife Meg. Martyn set the scene historically and geographically as background for their Czech adventures. In 2007 John de jong invited them to attend a Summer Conference at Medlov, in the central highlands. At the end of the conference they were asked to act as Spiritual Parents to a ‘School of Creative Worship and Leadership’. There were seventy eight students, aged eighteen to thirty plus, of all denominations. They became as one family involving much prayer ministry, teaching, and most importantly being open to God’s leading.
Martyn feels God is making things happen out there as these youngsters step out in faith together. That school ended after two years and now there are a series of Community weekends in which the Czech team are taking the main lead, although John de Jong and Martyn are the prime teachers. At the most recent weekend Martyn taught on ‘Ministering as Jesus ministered’, encouraging people to begin where Jesus began, at the River Jordan, as part of which he offered three symbolic acts, anointing with water, anointing with oil and Holy Communion.
Martyn and Meg both have a heart for the Czech nation, and feel it is to be their adopted country. Another school is to begin in 2012, with the hope of establishing an ‘Angel Mountain’ centre - a retreat for care and learning. Martyn is also being asked to teach in other churches, the most recent invitation being to a boat church in Prague, with 150 members all under the age of 30 years.
Martyn and Meg were thanked by Sylvia Ellershaw.
June reminded members of her coffee morning on February 28th, and encouraging members to raise funds by filling a Smartie tube with 0.20p’s. The Deanery Festival is now on Friday March 25th, starting at 7.00pm, at St. Chad’s Church, Over. June asked members to save broken or no longer used Jewellery, especially of the ‘Beaded’ type, for Africa Day on August 6th in Alderley Edge. There will be another evening meal at the ‘Woodpecker’.
Our next meeting on March 16th, will be a return visit from the Rev. Dr. John Hughes, and he will be talking on ‘How I became a Christian’ and ‘my first six weeks of being Vicar of Sandiway’. Everyone is invited and will be very welcome to this very special meeting, lunch and fellowship starts at 12 noon, with the meeting starting at 1.15pm.
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