February 2008
SERVICES
| 3rd Candlemas | 17th Lent 2 |
|---|---|
| 8.00 am Holy Communion | 8.00 am Holy Communion |
| 11.00 am Mattins & Sermon | 11.00 am Holy Communion |
| Preacher: Revd Dr Malcolm Guite | Preacher: Ms Rebekah Cannon |
| 5.00 pm Meditative Eucharist | 5.00 pm Meditative Eucharist |
| Preacher Revd Dr Fraser Watts | Preacher: Revd Dr Fraser Watts |
| 10th Lent 1 | 24th Lent 3 |
| 8.00 am Holy Communion | 8.00 am Holy Communion |
| 11.00 am Odyssey | 11.00 am Mattins & Sermon |
| Preacher Revd Dr Steven Shakepeare | Preacher: Revd Dr Fraser Watts |
| 5.00 pm Meditative Eucharist | 5.00 pm Meditative Eucharist |
| Preacher: Revd Dr Malcolm Guite | Preacher: Revd Dr Adrian Chatfield |
| Fridays: 10.30 am Holy Communion 5.30 pm Meditation | |
11.00 am READINGS
| Theme | Old Testament/Epistle | New Testament/Gospel |
| Candlemas | C Walker Malachi 3. 1-5 | C Martin Luke 2. 22-40 |
| Lent 2 | D Hirst 1 Thess 4. 1-8 | Chaplain Matthew 15. 21-28 |
| Sin & Shadow | J Adams Hosea 14. 1-7 |
W Caan Luke 15. 1-10 |
Readers for March
2: A Finn & M Morris
9: A Stacey & Ordinand;
16: G Barnes & E Edwards
23:S Mastin & Chaplain
30: R Adams & M Lee
Ash Wednesday Eucharist: There will be a contemplative Eucharist, with much silence, at 7.30 pm on Ash Wednesday February 6th. It will be in the contemplative style of our recent Vigil Eucharists, and will include an opportunity for the imposition of ashes.
Odyssey: The preacher at Odyssey this month (Feb 10th, 11.00
am) will be the Reverend Dr Steven
Shakespeare, Chaplain of Liverpool Hope University. He is an advocate of an
inclusive and open-minded
Church, and will speak on ‘‘Wild Wisdom: What Christians Can Learn from Emerging
Spiritualities’.
Towards Easter with Dante
A Personal Pilgrimage with Malcolm Guite
Wednesdays at 5.30 pm
Feb 13th, 20th & 27th; March 5th & 12th
Dante's great poem, The Divine Comedy, which tells the story of our spiritual pilgrimage from Earth to Heaven, is set in a series of dreams that take place in the days leading up to Easter. In this Lent course we will journey together with Dante down through Hell, both his and ours, up the climbing spirals of Mount Purgatory, with its cleansing powers, and finally to the renewed vision of God in Paradise. We will explore this poem as a spiritual resource for our own living now. No previous knowledge of Dante is necessary.
Evening Sermon Series: Fraser will preach a short sermon
series at the 5.00 pm Sunday Eucharist, beginning on January 27th, on ‘Raising
Consciousness’.
Jan 27th: Redeeming the Unconscious
Feb 3rd: Consciousness-Raising Encounters
Feb 10th: The Gift of Good Judgement
Feb 17th: God’s Call to be more Conscious
The preacher on Feb 24th will be the Revd Dr Adrian Chatfield, Director of
the new Simeon Centre for Prayer and the Spiritual Life, based at Ridley Hall
Holistic Spirituality: There will be meetings on Jan 27th, Feb 3rd & 17th at 3.30 pm. The current focus is on diverse spiritual practices with which members of the group are involved.
Gothic Eucharists: Alternate Tuesdays at 8.45 pm. Dates, preachers and themes
are:
Jan 29th Andy Swindells on Global Humanity
Feb 12th Fraser Watts on Artificial Intelligence
Feb 26th Malcolm Guite on Art & Pornography
Beta Course: We are about to re-run this video-based course that connects the Christian faith with personal issues and pastoral care. There will be an introductory session at 3.00 pm on Sunday Jan 27th at Queens’ College. (Contact Fraser for the exact location.). The following sessions cover Relationships, Christian Community, Sin and Atonement, Forgiveness and Reconciliation, Depression, Loss and Change, Stress and Coping, Suffering and Wholeness, Self and God. For more background see www.beta-course.org All members of congregation are very welcome to join the course.
Electoral roll: Regular members of the congregation who
are not on the electoral roll are encouraged to fill out an application form.
Please return them to Judith Tonry (the electoral roll officer) or to Fraser.
Those in the congregation who pay tax are also encouraged to fill out aGift
Aid form and to join the envelope scheme. That considerably increased the
value of gifts to the church.
From the Vicar-Chaplain
February is scarcely upon us and already we begin Lent! But may be making
the Lenten journey so close to the turning of the year is no bad thing. Turning
and returning is at the heart of Lent; turning away from the familiar tug
of the trivial, turning towards an open, desert space which might, if we dare
to keep it empty, be filled with the stillness of our hidden God. For in that
turning is our returning; returning to the roots of our being, returning to
the heart of the faith.
Jesus in the desert returned to the beginning. He returned to the place his
people came from, the wilderness through which God drew them to their promised
land. He returned to the founding story that shaped the meaning of his people
and faith and he acted it out for himself, made the desert journey and the
crossing of Jordan his own. We do the same with our founding story. Through
Lent and Easter with we walk with Christ towards Holy Week, towards His death
and resurrection so that it can also be our death and resurrection.
But Jesus in the desert returns, and invites us to return, to an even deeper
beginning than the first crossing of Jordan. He returns to the beginning of
all things in God’s creating and all-shaping word; the word of God that calls
us into life and being. He uncovers again for us the truth that man does not
live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Lent is our chance to turn and return to stillness, to a silence in which
that word, the word of our own life and being can be spoken again clearly
in our depths so that we can live from it again.
Silence is becoming a more and more important part of our liturgy at St. Edwards,
the untrammelled open spaces in the meditative and contemplative Eucharist,
and the deep well of shared silence which is at the heart of Friday’s Christian
meditation group. Perhaps you will have a chance this Lent to join those shared
silences in St. Edward’s and draw from them, or else somewhere, at some regular
time, that turns and returns each day, to make your own space, your own desert,
into which you can enter to hear God speaking afresh the word of your life.
Malcolm Guite
Clergy: Revd. Dr. Fraser Watts (19, Grantchester Road, CB3 9ED; 359223, fnw1001@cam.ac.uk); Revd Dr Malcolm Guite (694249, mg320@cam.ac.uk); Canon Alan Cole (892286, alan73@waitrose.com). Churchwardens: Dr. Elizabeth Edwards (313570, elizedwards@waitrose.com); Mr Steven Mastin (361041, stevenjamesmastin@yahoo.co.uk).Treasurer: Mr Geoffrey Barnes; (717757, Geoff.Barnes@cambridgeshire.gov.uk). Reader: Mr. Peter Marshall (564471). Church phone: 362004.
Find us at www.st-edwards-cam.org.uk