August 2008

SERVICES

3rd Trinity 11	24th Trinity 14
8.00 am Holy Communion	8.00 am Holy Communion
11.00 am Odyssey	11.00 am Sunday at Eleven
Preacher: Revd Robin Griffith-Jones	Preacher: Canon Fraser Watts
5.00 pm Meditative Eucharist	5.00 pm Meditative Eucharist
Preacher: Canon Fraser Watts	Preacher: Revd Dr Malcolm Guite
10th Trinity 12	31st Trinity 15
8.00 am Holy Communion	8.00 am Holy Communion
11.00 am Sunday at Eleven	11.00 am Sunday at Eleven
Preacher: Canon Fraser Watts	Preacher: Revd Dr Malcolm Guite
5.00 pm Meditative Eucharist	5.00 pm Meditative Eucharist
Preacher: Canon Fraser Watts	Preacher: Canon Alan Cole
17th Trinity 13	Fridays:
8.00 am Holy Communion	10.30 am Holy Communion
11.00 am Eucharist	5.30 pm Meditation
Preacher: Revd Dr Malcolm Guite
5.00 pm Meditative Eucharist
Mr Charlie Moloney

 

Sunday at Eleven August 3rd Odyssey - Mary Magdalene The preacher will be Robin Griffith-Jones, Master of the Temple Church in London, and well known for his books on the Gospels and Paul. He is currently working on a book about Mary Magdalene, the woman whom Jesus loved, and whose relationship with Jesus has been the subject of much speculation. August 10th Psychology & Faith (2) Overcoming Sin & Evil Fraser will continue the series, looking at how we can respond to the darkness around us and within us, in a way that is realistic, constructive, mature and psychologically healthy. He will argue that we should not wallow in sin, not be panicked by it, but not ignore it. August 17th Eucharist - The Transfiguration The monthly Eucharist will focus on the Transfiguration of Christ, a major Christian festival focusing on the light that shines from Christ. The preacher will be Malcolm Guite, and the service will include Edwin Muir’s poem on the transfiguration. August 24th Psychology & Faith (3) Spiritual Gifts and Practices Fraser will continue his sermon series, focusing on the psychology of spiritual gifts and practices. He will try to show how the ‘binocular’ perspectives of psychology and religion help us understand what is going on, and to be judicious in our spiritual life. (Note that this sermon is now on Aug 24th, not Aug 31st as previously announced) August 31st Thanksgiving for St Augustine Augustine is a towering genius of Christendom. In his Confessions he reached a new depth of self exploration and wrote one of the first autobiographies; he was a great theologian who grappled more deeply with the problem of evil than anyone else had done; and he anticipared by many centuries Stephen Hawking’s conclusion that time only started when the world came into being. Malcolm will lead us in a thanksgiving for his life and work.

Goth Eucharists: The next will be at 8.30 pm on Tuesday July 29th, when Fraser will be talking about about Being Human: The Glory and the Pain. The following one will be on August 26th, when Malcolm will be preaching.

Gift Envelopes: Over the last year or two there has been a significant increase in the number of people joining the weekly envelope scheme and signing a gift a declaration form We can recover tax on all such giving, and it has improved our financial position significantly that more people are giving in this way. Thank you to everyone who has done so. If there are more members of the congregation who pay tax regularly, and who have not yet joined the envelope scheme, we would be very grateful if you would do so. Church expenditure averages at just under £100 a day, and we need all the help we can get to sustain that.

September Odyssey: The preacher at Odyssey on September 7th will be Revd Dr Kenneth Cracknell, a pioneer in Christian thinking about multi-faith issues and a leading figure in the British Methodist church He has recently been Distinguished Professor at Brite Divinity School, Texas. He will be talking about being Christian in a multi-faith world, drawing on his recent book, In Good and Generous Faith.

Harvest: The Harvest Festival will be on September 28th. Families with young children are especially welcome at the 11.00 am Harvest service. There will be a parish lunch after the service at Trinity Hall.

Evening Sermons: On Sunday evenings in August the sermons will focus on different aspects of the life and teaching of Jesus. On Aug 3rd Fraser will preach on the meaning of the Transfiguration of Christ, i.e. Christ as Light. On Aug 10th Fraser will preach on Jesus’ relations with those contrasting sisters, Mary and Martha. On Aug 17th Charlie Moloney will talk about the meaning of the parables, On Aug 24th Malcolm will preach on Jesus and Identity, i.e. the giving and receiving of names in the gospel.

Chapter: Stephen Davies has replaced Jeannet Weurman as an elected member of Chapter, and has also replaced Oliver Shone as Chapter Clerk. We are grateful to him for taking that on. Jeannet is having a break from Chapter. Jess Monaghan will both be leaving Cambridge shortly to do a Ph.D at the University of Nottingham. The Chapter meets next at 6.30 pm on Thursday September 25th.

Readers: Aug 3rd: C Martin & S Mastin; Aug 10th: R Lynden-Bell & D Lynden-Bell; Aug 17th: D Redhead & C Moloney. Aug 24th: R Adams & C Walker; Aug 31st: A Finn & E Edwards. Readings to be notified.

Chaplain’s Letter

This month, like millions of others, I take my children to the sea-side. Perhaps I should add that I also take my child, my inner child, to the sea-side too. There is something in all of us I think, something that goes deep into our own childhood, and deeper still into our memories of being afloat in the womb, which responds to the sea with delight, excitement, playfulness but also a sense of yearning and mystery.
In our series on Gospel elements, at St. Edwards we reflected on how the outer elements of the world, water and air, earth and fire, correspond with, call to, inner elements in our soul. A few idle days playing and splashing by the sea can be a time of spiritual connection and renewal as well us personal relaxation. Saint Augustine sensed it when he saw a boy scooping water from the sea into a shell and realised that his own mind could no more contain or understand the infinite mystery of God than the little shell could hold the whole sea. Perhaps it is to an emblem of that infinite mystery we are drawn when we make our annual pilgrimage to the sea, and Wordsworth was right when he wrote:
… in a season of calm weather
Though inland far we be,
Our souls have sight of that immortal sea
Which brought us hither;
Can in a moment travel thither--
And see the children sport upon the shore,
And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore.
I wish you a season of calm weather and the chance for all our inner and outer children to sport upon the shore this August.
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: Mr Steven Mastin (361041, stevenjamesmastin@yahoo.co.uk); Mrs Judith Tonry (892160, judith@tonry.co.uk). Treasurer: Mr Geoffrey Barnes (717757, Geoff.Barnes@cambridgeshire.gov.uk). Chapter Clerk: Mr Oliver Shone (olishone@hotmail.com); Church phone: 362004.

Find us at www.st-edwards-cam.org.uk