August 2007
SERVICES
| 5th Trinity 9 | 19th Trinity 11 |
|---|---|
| 8.00 am Holy Communion | 8.00 am Holy Communion |
| 11.00 am Odyssey | 11.00 am Holy Communion |
| Preacher: Revd Dr Charles Elliott | Preacher: Revd Dr Malcolm Guite |
| 5.00 pm Meditative Eucharist | 5.00 pm Meditative Eucharist |
| Preacher: Mr Peter Marshall | Preacher: Canon Alan Cole |
| 12th Trinity 10 | 26th Trinity 12 |
| 8.00 am Holy Communion | 8.00 am Holy Communion |
| 11.00 am Mattins & Sermon | 11.00 am Mattins & Sermon |
| Preacher: Revd Dr Fraser Watts | Preacher: Revd Dr Fraser Watts |
| 5.00 pm Meditative Eucharist | 5.00 pm Meditative Eucharist |
| Preacher: Revd Dr Malcolm Guite | Preacher: Revd Dr Fraser Watts |
| Fridays | |
| 10.30 am Holy Communion | 5.30 pm Meditation |
11.00 am READINGS
| Theme | Old Testament/Epistle | New Testament/Gospel |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Jesus the Jew | G Barnes Isaiah 52. 1-10 | C Martin Luke 11. 29-41 |
| 19 Trinity 11 | D Hirst 1 Corinth 15. 1-11 | Chaplain Luke 18. 9-14 |
| 26 Jesus' Miracles | R Adams 2 Kings 4. 17-37 | J Dent Mark 1. 29-34 & 40-46 |
|
Readers for September: |
Odyssey: The preacher at Odyssey this month (August 5th,
11.00 am) will be the Revd Dr Charles Elliott, a
fomer Dean of Trinity Hall and a good friend of St Edward's. He will be speaking
on `World Poverty: A
Second Look', a subject on which he is eminently well qualified, as a former
Director of Christian
Aid and a former Professor of Economic Development.
Sunday Morning Sermons: On Sunday mornings starting on August
12th, Fraser will preach an occasional
series of sermons on what we know about the historical Jesus, and how this
can be a ground for faith.
Aug 12th: Jesus the Jew Aug 26th: Jesus the Miracle-worker Sept 16th: Jesus
the Sage
Sept 23rd: Jesus the Social Reformer Oct 14th: Spirit-filled Jesus
Margaret Billett: Congratulations to Jesse and Jill on the birth of their daughter, Margaret. She has been baptized in King's College Chapel, but we hope it will be possible to find a Sunday morning when she can be received into the church family at St Edward's, employing the rarely-used Prayer Book order of service for the reception of children who have been baptized privately.
Goth Eucharist: There will be a Goth Eucharist at 8.45 pm on August 14th when Paul Watkins, who is training for ordination at Westcott House, will preach about discovering our calling.
Holistic Spirituality Group: There will be an informal get-together of the group at 3.30 pm on August 19th, which will resume properly in September.
Meditation: The Friday meditation group will continue throughout August, on Fridays at 5.30 pm, led by Fraser or Alan.
Transfiguration: One of the great Festivals that falls in August is the Transfiguration of our Lord. Though strictly it falls on August 6th, we will transfer it and keep it at the 5.00 pm Eucharist on August 19th.
Chaplain's Letter
World Poverty
At Odyssey this month we will continue our outward-looking theme, and focus
on world poverty. It goes without saying that it is an enormously important
subject. With the rapid rise in world population that we are experiencing,
there is a serious question about whether the human race will be able to feed
itself adequately. Serious threats to that arise partly from civil wars and
the disruption to agriculture that arises from human conflict. However, even
without those problems, the prospects of agriculture keeping pace with demands
for food seem poor, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.
There are also, as everyone knows, serious imbalances in the wealth of different parts of the world, and a danger that the power of the developed world will lead inexorably to growing difference in wealth between countries like ours and some of the poorest countries in Africa such as Sierra Leone. Even relatively generous international aid seems unlikely to halt the growing imbalance in wealth between the richest and poorest countries. A radically different approach to world trade would be needed to achieve that.
These are important issues for any Christian, given the central place of neighborliness both in the Old Testament and in the teaching of Jesus. We now live increasingly in a global village in which there are no longer any limits to who counts as our neighbour. There is no one better qualified than Charles Elliott to help Christians to think through these difficult and important issues, and it will be a great pleasure to have him with us once again for our August Odyssey.
Ambivalence about Religion
Another very important issue for any church to understand is what is happening
in current attitudes to religion. Unless you understand that, you can't have
a strategy for mission. In the UK there has been a sharp decline in church
attendance over the last 50 years. However, the underlying position is more
complex than that seems to suggest. I have recently been reading an advance
copy of `A Secular Age' by Charles Taylor, who was recently awarded the Templeton
Prize for 2007. Due to be published in September, it provides a long and masterly
overview of changing attitudes to religion. Though people don't go to church
as much, many still want to believe in God if they can. Also many regret the
decline of religiousness, feel the lack of it, and certainly still want some
kind of spirituality.
What is the church to think of these trends? Most churches simply ignore them and carry on as before, hoping for the best. That seems the least adequate response. Some maintain a hard-line Christianity, hoping to recall people from a softer approach to spirituality to what they regard as the true faith. That seems arrogant and blinkered. Some, like me, see what is happening in the world today as reflecting the work of the Holy Spirit.
When the church is in danger of losing the plot, God often seems to speak to it through changes in secular society. If the church is attentive to what the Spirit is saying there, it finds that it is being recalled to something it should never have lost sight off. The church has become too much concerned with its own survival, and not enough with the transformation that the Holy Spirit can bring. I think it is really helpful that people are making it clear that they are not interested in that kind of church. Only if the church gets its priorities right will people want to make common cause with it. That is why, at St Edward's, we try to be attentive to current trends in spirituality, and to respond to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the church through them.
I am confident that this is the right course for us to be following, and I am encouraged by the people who have joined us because they are also convinced this is the right way forward for the church. I hope that St Edward's will increasingly shine as a beacon of openness to the Spirit. That is how we can best serve God and serve the world around us.
Fraser Watts
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, stephenjamesmastin@yahoo.com).Treasurer: Mr Geoffrey Barnes; (717757, Geoff.Barnes@cambridgeshire.gov.uk). Reader: Mr. Peter Marshall (564471). Church phone: 362004