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Dear friends,

First I want to take this opportunity to give a very big thankyou to everyone who helped make this Staycation week such a great time. Everybody I have spoken with  has said how much they enjoyed the various events and there are lots of requests for us to do something similar again in the future. 

Over the last two or three weeks I have been working on  the preaching series for the autumn. Both PCCs said that some teaching on discipleship would be good, and that sounded a great idea until everybody I spoke to had a different idea of what discipleship is, and then it began to feel less of an attractive proposition!

Anyway, I persevered and my conclusion has been that discipleship is the process of becoming an ever-closer follower of Jesus. In a nod to technology, I also asked chat GPT for a definition  and this was the reply:

‘Discipleship is the lifelong journey of becoming more like Christ—shaped by the Spirit, rooted in Scripture, and expressed in daily life. It involves the renewing of mind and heart (Romans 12:2), so that we are transformed into Christ’s likeness.’

I must say, with regret,  chat GPT probably has come up with the best definition.  As I read it, the thing that pulled me up sharp was the reminder that when we give our lives to Christ, it is all of our life for the whole of our lives.

God bless,

Faith

I have now completed the first year of my course training to be an LLM (Licensed Lay Minister) in the Church of England, and I have one more year to go. I have loved every minute so far, and I thought that, since my friends have been so encouraging and interested, it would be a nice idea to do a reflective post.

I had intended to keep a journal of the year so that I could look back and reflect on how things have gone, but of course I didn't. I think I created a journal on a google doc at the start of the year, and then I moved to writing in a notebook, goodness knows where that's gone, and then I stumbled upon a journalling app, and you know I love an app. But I've never been good at consistent journalling. I may have told you this story before, but one year at a Christian festival called New Wine, I was offered the opportunity to do a quiz to see what sort of pray-er I was. I can't remember all the different types, but I came out as an ‘On The Go Prayer’. Which makes complete sense. And then, even better, I got a free gift! And the free gift for an ‘On The Go Prayer’ was a travel mug. Well, the problem is that I've always wanted to be a ‘Sit Down And Concentrate Prayer’ (that’s not what it was called but you know what I mean), and their free gift was a lovely journal. So I convinced the lady on the stand to give me the journal instead. I’m sure you can guess how often the journal was used.

Anyway, none of that has anything to do with my course and I apologise for the detour. The point I think I was making is that I have had a great year, but I haven't done very well at keeping a record of it. But perhaps this post will put that right.

The modules I have studied in my first year have been: Theological Reflection, Pastoral Care, Human Identity (what does it mean to be made ‘in the image of God’? - this is a far bigger and more complicated topic than you would have ever thought possible), Worship, and the Bible, in that order. It might seem strange that the Bible module came at the end of the year, but obviously we did talk about the Bible all the way through, it was just that the specific module about the Bible was at the end. My assignments have included a theological reflection on a significant moment during the covid pandemic (I chose the re-opening of the preschools after the first lockdown), a visit to talk with a funeral director, a listening exercise (it turns out I find it super difficult not to interrupt - had you noticed?! - wow I even interrupted myself there), creating an online daily prayer service for Holy Week, an assessed sermon where I thought it would be a good idea to dress up as the disciple Peter (on reflection maybe I should have pretended to be more normal, the assessor said I had made it “difficult to mark”), and an exegesis essay (critical interpretation) of a part of the book of Joshua.

I have loved it all, but I think my favourite module was the Bible module, with the exegesis essay. I got completely obsessed with it. They gave us the option to choose one of several really difficult passages in the Old Testament to analyse, passages which in the past I’ve mostly chosen to ignore or skip over because they didn’t sit well with the kind and loving God that I know, or my own world view. But in this course we're encouraged to really wrestle with these passages, and try to find truths in there, to find God in the spaces between the words, to look for who is not mentioned, whose stories are not told, why the text was written, what the author's perspective was, what was the historical and social and cultural context. We also learnt to reflect on our own lives, identity and experiences, and think about how that affects how we read the Bible. It was absolutely amazing, I feel like I've been given the tools to read and understand the Bible in a whole new way.

When I started the course, I thought that I was finally going to learn the answers to all the difficult questions about God and the world and life. And what I've found is that I'm just asking more and more questions, and that's ok! I mean, I suppose it's bad news if you thought there were easy answers, because I don't think there are. But in a way it’s hugely reassuring to me to find a place where my overthinking and analysing of every single detail is encouraged, and my asking awkward questions is valuable. Did you know you could find that in a church?! You can!! Apparently God loves difficult questions!

Another great part of the course has been the residentials. For one weekend each module, we go to stay at Sarum College in Salisbury, which is just opposite the cathedral. I like to get there early on the Friday if I can, to ‘use the library’. This involves returning the ridiculous number of books that I took out and didn’t read last time, and taking out a similar number to not read over the next few weeks. Then I wander about feeling clever and holy for quite a while, enjoying that lovely library smell of old books filled with wise words. Sometimes I get some work done. At 5.30pm my library time has to be interrupted to attend Evensong at the cathedral, and then the seminars start. We can get into some really good discussions. At one residential we were having a debate about assisted dying, and there were people who worked at hospitals and prisons and care homes and people with very different life experiences, and the debate was animated but respectful, and I thought it was such a great example of Christians disagreeing well. Often I think Christians can be particularly bad at that, we always seem to think we know what God's view is, even when we disagree with each other! I am very aware that disagreeing well is something I need to work on since Brexit rudely exposed my shortcomings. Another very memorable moment was when my friend sang the Lord's Prayer in Aramaic, Jesus' own language, in the chapel at one of our morning prayer services. But it's not all seminars and prayer, we know how to party too - at the last residential we had a sing-along in the bar, belting out traditional hymns and modern worship songs, with occasional Spice Girl interludes! It was absolutely joyous. In terms of accommodation, the rooms are fairly simple but comfortable and have a kind of monastic feel to them. I quite like feeling like I’m a nun for a weekend, and then going back to normal life. I don't think I'd have been a good full-time nun, I'm not consistent enough, not if the journalling issues are anything to go by. Also I suspect it’s not all sing-alongs in the bar every night.

I am really looking forward to next year. Maybe I'm a little nervous about what happens after that. People ask me what being an LLM actually involves, and I don't have a good answer to that, as it depends on the person and the church. It's not like being a vicar, and it's not a job - I'll still have my job working with the lovely students at Farnborough Sixth. I will be able to take funerals in church, but to be honest I'm not sure they will be letting me loose on funerals for a little while yet. I think it's more a question of training people well to be good leaders, and God knows we need good leaders in the Church. Thankfully, both God and the lovely people of St Barnabas and St Mary's are being very gentle with me, and I feel like it's ok just to enjoy the journey for now. (Who knew I'd ever be capable of saying something like that?! Surely it's all about the destination??!!!) See - I have come a long way already! I am trusting God that he will sort things out for the long term.

Dear friends,

I wonder how we tend to react when we receive difficult news about our own health or that of someone we love; or find our world view challenged by a viewpoint we've not considered before, especially if we are deliberately encouraged to respond positively to it? 

In our teaching series this week, at St. Barnabas we will find ourselves thrown up in a very dry land with Jonah and God using him to share challenging words to the people of a previously violent and bullying nation. Their response is dramatic, and perhaps unexpected; but why might we find that so?

At St. Mary's we're considering an equally difficult subject: if God is love, why do people suffer? This is part of the "Ancient Truths and Modern Life" series at St. Mary's that invites both conversations after the service and in our prayerful study hopefully in a way that informs how we support ourselves and others in times of difficulty.

God is inviting us into a conversation, hoping that we will be open-minded not just to what God is capable of in changing people's lives, but also to what the Holy Spirit is prompting us to consider as we relate the diversity of contemporary understandings of scripture to our own lives.

This is the joy, and the challenge, of making Jesus' loving sacrifice and forgiveness relevant for our world today.

I pray you feel welcome to join us on one of these thought-provoking journeys this week. 

Go well and God bless,

Rachel

Dear friends,

Earlier this morning at all our services, I shared exciting news about a curate who is joining us next year. The formal announcement from the diocese is:

'The Bishop of Winchester has agreed that Melanie Osbourne should serve her Title (serve as curate) at Eversley and Darby Green from June 2026 subject to the usual conditions ( DBS, finishing training etc).  

Mel will be a full-time stipendiary (paid) curate and will live in one of our vicarages. This is really exciting news and is an affirmation of what we are doing as a benefice. 

God is very good to us - in the whole diocese there are only 7 full-time stipendiary curacies next year.

Mel has visited a couple of times and she, Danny and one of her daughters will be joining us at our Sunday services next week.

God bless,

Faith

Dear friends,

Recently I’ve spent a week at a Christian festival called New Wine, camping with a small group but also being part of a gathering of over 12,000 Christians. Each day there was great worship, good Bible teaching and a chance to get to know people better – all between boiling copious kettles for hot water and cooking meals in a field. I must admit, it’s boiling the kettle and the cooking in a field which is still uppermost in my mind, but that will change as my thoughts settle, and I reflect on what I heard.

I always look on New Wine as a spiritual retreat, some people like silence, some read a book, and I wonder, if with those things as well, the benefit is afterwards rather than during the event?

The Bible teaching during the week was from the book of Ruth, and it was good to be reminded of God’s plan of redemption and salvation. The preacher was skilful and spoke with passion, but what I remember most is the actor who recited the text of the book, using his skills to give it meaning and clarity. 

Often, or probably usually, we take a small portion of scripture and focus on a few tiny verses, but an overview really helps to put things into perspective. We are focusing on the prophet Jonah during August, which is only four chapters long which means we could all read it at one sitting.

If that whets your appetite, the preachers have been using a book called ‘The Prodigal Prophet’ by Timothy Keller which is well worth reading and gives some real insights into what the message of the book is.

Maybe that is a spiritual retreat we can all manage.

God bless,

Faith

Dear friends

On Tuesday morning, Amanda and I were thinking about how, if drains are blocked, water “runs” down slopes and across parking areas when it’s wet, meaning that people need wellies to get to work or go to school. Obviously there wasn’t any water doing that just now! However the dry weather does give us a chance to encourage those with the appropriate authority to arrange for drainage ditches to be cleared for the benefit of local residents, businesses and the community… on this occasion near the school in Eversley. We hope these conversations produce some action.

Trains and other modes of transport “run” to timetables, from and to different destinations. As you can see from the photo, Graham and I had great fun exploring the Bluebell Line on holiday recently where the steam trains definitely “ran” to schedule. It got us wondering at what times in our lives we’ve “run” towards, or away from, God. Can you think of times when you’ve tried to avoid God, or actively “run away” what he is wanting us to do? If so, you’re not alone, and we aren’t the first to do so!

This week we start our summer preaching series on the book of Jonah, an Old Testament prophet who tried to run away from what God wanted him to do. The thing is, it didn’t really work, because he encountered God’s grace, which is this week’s specific theme. I’ll leave there story there, otherwise I’ll be “running away” with the plot.
           

Details of this weeks services are in this newsletter. Graham and I will also be leading Friday online prayers on Facebook at 10am in August, whilst Derek takes a well-earned break. 

God bless

Rachel

Dear friends,

There are some things that stick in your memory and make you happy every time you think of them. For instance, a friend who died over ten years ago used to have this thing about ice cream. As soon as it was served at a meal, he would be stressing about getting it back to the freezer, apparently thawed and refrozen ice cream is a major source of food poisoning. Now, every time I eat ice cream with a meal, I remember him and smile.

I wonder if you saw BBC South today on Sunday evening. There was a report of over 90 people getting baptised in the sea on Bournemouth beach. The BBC reported it as if it was one of the most natural things in the world to happen. You can see by clicking on the link below and you can watch the TV coverage by clicking on the separate link (3 minutes 20 seconds into the clip).

It was a bit of a wake-up call. The sheer happiness of the people on the beach reminded me of the joy and excitement of being a Christian. I’m hoping that video clip sticks in my memory so that every time I see a beach I will be reminded of the joyful faith of those people being baptised and take time to recapture it for myself.

Faith

https://winchester.anglican.org/hundreds-of-people-join.../

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUXstbTOH4U&feature=youtu.be

Dear friends

Holidays are upon us!

For many of us this will include taking a journey somewhere, with all the preparations that entails.

I’m writing this sat watching butterflies sparkle amongst the plants in Rachel’s dad’s garden, having just finished the paperwork for my school’s Biology Field Course in September. There is something about studying organisms in their natural habitat that brings alive the theory which has been so painstakingly taught.

In preparation for my preaching course starting September, I have undertaken a short course on theology. During this course we have been given much to think about. For example: “If you are a theologian then you truly pray; if you truly pray you are a theologian”. Perhaps surprisingly this was written 1600 years ago by a monk in Egypt, Evagrius of Ponticus.

Such ancient words should challenge us to think: how does what we pray reflect what we know of God. Going further there is a motto “lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi”, in other words: “the way we worship determines what we believe which determines how we live.”

This Summer, perhaps we need to reflect on how we live, and whether that matches up with what we believe, which will of course feed into how we worship Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.

Graham

Dear friends,

My Bible readings this week have been full of people I probably wouldn’t want to be associated with. Weak Abraham, Malicious Sarah, Invader Naaman, Tax collector Matthew, Doubting Tomas. I’m not the only one who judges them harshly, people in Jesus time couldn’t believe that he ate with ‘tax collectors and sinners.’ But he did – and the point of all those stories is that the people in them met God and God was kind to them. We call this undeserved kindness of God ‘grace’. Stormzy the rapper sang at Glastonbury a few years ago ‘I’m blinded by your grace’ and the hymn, ‘Amazing Grace’ is perhaps one of the best-known hymns we have.

The man who wrote it was also one of those people we wouldn’t want to be associated with – he could best be called Slave Trader John. But like the people in the Bible, God met him and transformed his life.

One of the questions that my notes asked was ‘How would you describe yourself’ and then ‘How would God describe you?’ Perhaps this week we can take the opportunity to ask God how he sees us, and as we listen to what He says, maybe we too will be blinded by God’s undeserved kindness, his grace towards us and transformed by it.

God Bless

Faith

Dear friends

In case you haven't noticed June means only one thing to the young people of our  community -exams. And exams mean questions.

Jesus himself was very good at asking questions but not in order to give a grade to your answer thank goodness.

The question above is one I've been pondering whilst reading around the set readings for this Sunday and I'm sure it's familiar to most of you. I expect we all have answers as to who we say Jesus is eg the Messiah. But interestingly the answer that kept coming to me this week was - who do you say I am to the community ?

So my challenge from God and maybe it will be yours too is to share the good news of Jesus more widely. In the meantime enjoy reflecting on Jesus question. " Who do you say I am?" 

(Luke  9:20)

Blessings

Jane Hughes LLM