The Vicar Writes
April 2008
Seeing is Believing
Dear Friends,
Seeing is Believing
It is often said that seeing is believing. There was an element of that with those people who saw the risen Lord. He appeared to some disciples on the evening of his resurrection. St. John tells us, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.' After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
We get the impression that there was a bit of hesitation on the part of the disciples before they were able to rejoice. Who can blame them? They must have been utterly startled by what their eyes were telling them. Famously, of course, Thomas wasn't with them. He said he wouldn't believe that Jesus had been raised until he both saw him and touched him. A week later, when Christ did appear to the disciples including him, he was able to exclaim, 'My Lord and my God!'
Seeing does help, but the risen Lord commended those who would believe without seeing him in the way that the close disciples, and hundreds with them, saw him then. Blessed are those who have not seen and have come to believe.
This seeing business isn't always straight forward, though, is it? What do we mean by 'seeing'? And do we always fully understand the things that we do see? The disciples on the road to Emmaus saw the risen Jesus, but they didn't realise it until he broke bread with them. It was only afterwards that it all became obvious to them.
It's getting Exciting!
One of the things that I believe we Christians are called to do is see the presence and activity of our Lord in our daily living. We who believe that Christ is risen and that he is present with us in the Holy Spirit should expect to see him both in our church life and activity, but also in our daily living, in all sorts of different situations. And like St. John's report of the disciples on that first Easter evening, people should be able to say of us, They rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
There are many ways in which we can see the presence and activity of the Lord in the life of our church at the moment. The way in which people have captured the vision for a replacement church building to secure the ongoing worship and mission of the church in this parish is, I believe, a sign that God is at work among us. And it's all getting rather exciting!
The plan is to have the new Church built in time for Christmas. Obviously, this cannot be guaranteed, but that is what we are working towards. Having received Local Authority Planning Permission, we now only need the permission of the Chancellor of the Diocese. Our hope and prayer is that he will be able to issue a faculty following the Consistory Court hearing that will take place in Church on Saturday, 5 April at 11.00am. This historic event is needed because we are demolishing a parish church. Assuming that the chancellor will give his consent, the PCC will then hold an open meeting for all members of the church's electoral roll on Wednesday, 9 April at 7.30pm in Church. I encourage as many members of the electoral roll as possible to join us for that. The final plans will be presented, the total cost will be disclosed, as will the level of the funds available. Electoral roll members will be invited to ask questions and share their views, and then the PCC will make its final decision.
As I say, I am sure that all of this is a sign of God's activity among us, we simply need to open our eyes and see. Please, pray for all of those who are engaged in this project on our behalf at the moment, and especially for those who are preparing for the consistory court hearing.
Yet another sign
Another sign of God's activity among us is the wonderful news that we have been given £30,000 by the diocese to enable us to employ a Children's and Youth Minister over the next three years. This sum is increased by a pledge to give support by Hummersknott School and by the PCC. We are now looking to attract another £5,000 for each of the three years to enable us to pay a higher salary and so employ a more experienced person.
The Children's and Youth Minister will be based at All Saints' and do much to work with our wonderful teams of volunteers in developing our ministry amongst the younger people within the church. He or she will also spend at least one-and-a-half days per week in Hummersknott School. The hope is that the minister will also be able to support some of the work in the other parishes of our Group, and we will be asking those parishes for financial support to make this possible. We are very grateful to Kathryn Jones and the team that has been working with her on this project. Please, pray for all who are involved with it; those who are working hard to make it possible to employ someone from September onwards.
Look around you
So, these are just two ways in which we can see God's presence and activity amongst us. There are no shortage of others: the wonderful Praise and Party children's service and tea that we held last month (thanks to those who helped to make that possible) - there'll be more of those, the fun and laughter that was enjoyed at the Fashion Show (many thanks to Pat Williams and those who worked with her on this, it raised over £1,200 for the building fund), the record number of communicants that we had on Palm Sunday morning, the events and worship of this Holy Week that we are still in the middle of as I write, and so one could carry on.
But it is far from being just at Church that we see God at work. In this season of Easter, as we celebrate the truth of the raising of Jesus Christ from the dead, look around you and see the countless ways in which God is active in your daily living. And then rejoice!
With my very best wishes
John