Updated:
3rd February 2012
We are a Church of England church in the ‘liberal Catholic Anglican tradition’, and we welcome people of all Christian traditions and backgrounds. We aim to be a place of spiritual, intellectual and emotional refreshment.
We seek to give people the chance to learn and grow in their faith through challenging sermons and a variety of education courses.
We are an inclusive church that will give a warm welcome to everyone. We are a Christian family made up of all sorts and that’s the way we like it. We hope you will get the chance to visit us soon and find out for yourself.
Away in a manger…
Well, not really a manger but certainly away in a stable. Apparently, for the modest sum of £12 you can buy yourself a taste of the’ genuine Christmas experience’: a night in a stable, donkey included. A concept to tempt all those overwhelmed by the commercialisation of Christmas, the noise and the booze, to get away from it all and try to re-discover the ‘true’ meaning of Christmas. What is it like to spend a winter’s night in an unheated stable with only straw for warmth?
The idea is a fundraiser for leukaemia and lymphoma research devised by a family in Sussex and is raising good money for a good cause. The man from The Guardian who tried it – Tom Melter – found it, as you might expect, cold and uncomfortable, if peaceful. He was hoping for a deep spiritual experience and explained his personal epiphany this way. As he lied politely to his hosts that he had slept fine he says he realised this: that Christmas is all about pretending. Pretending sometimes for the best of reasons, and sometimes for dodgy ones. Pretending about all sorts of things from a belief that Christ was actually born in a stable on 25th December 2011 years ago, to an assertion that this year’s turkey is the best ever and that crackers, the Queen and stodgy puddings is what Jesus would have wanted.
Well no, it’s not. Christians don’t ‘pretend’ that Christ was born on 25th December – they just know that he was born, 25th December is as good a date as any to pick on to remember it and you need neither crackers nor Christmas pud to celebrate if you don’t want. Chacun a son gout. But why not? And why not listen to the Queen’s message if that is part of the ritual of your Christmas day.
More importantly most of the pretending that Christmas does involve - the expression of thanks for that useless or hideous present – isn’t a bad thing at all. It is an expression of love out of a wish not to cause hurt. An expression of love of the sort that comes from the Latin word caritas from which we get our word charity. A self-effacing love that says it is OK to pretend to like that hideous sweater because it was kindly meant and carefully chosen. Such pretence is not a bad thing for any person whether Christian or not but for a Christian such ‘caritas’ is a clear reflection of the love that came down and Christmas in Jesus.
‘What Jesus would have wanted’ – I venture to suggest – is just that sort of expression of love . Where the pretence becomes a problem is where the love itself is a sham: where families merely pretend to care for one another, it is easy to be reduced to arguments by Boxing Day.
So there is pretending and pretending. Whilst one struggles to imagine what turkey pud, paper hats and the Queen would mean to a first century Jewish peasant couple and their new born infant, if it gives us a handle on expressing love for one another – go for it!
Monday
9.15am Morning Prayer
Tuesday
9.15am Morning Prayer
Wednesday
9.15am Morning Prayer
Thursday
9.15am Morning Prayer
Thursday Eucharist, 10.00am suitable for young children
Friday
9.15am Morning Prayer
Sunday
8.30am Service of Holy Communion
10.30am Parish Eucharist
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