December 2009
Services
| Sunday Services | Friday Services (except December 25th) |
|---|---|
| 8.00 am Holy Communion (Prayer book) (except December 27th) | 10.30 am Holy Communion (Prayer book) |
| 11.00 am Sunday at Eleven | 5.30 pm Meditation |
| 5.00 pm Meditative Eucharist |
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Sunday at Eleven
December 6th: Advent Eucharist Preacher Revd Dr Malcolm Guite The monthly Sunday Eucharist is on this particular Sunday, because it is the one Sunday in the year when the 5.00pm service is not a Eucharist. Malcolm will preach about Christ's threefold advent: in the past, in the present moment of our lives now, and in the future at the fullness of time. December 13th: Advent Antiphons and Sonnets Preachers Canon Fraser Watts An Advent service, built around the seven Advent Antiphons - the great 'Advent O's' - and the sonnets based on each of them written by Malcolm Guite. Fraser will preach on the spirit of invocation of Christ that they convey, and the role of that in spiritual preparation for Christmas. December 20th: Christingle Service Preacher Revd Dr Malcolm Guite A carol service for people of all ages, including young families, featuring the Christingle, with its symbolism of Christ entering the world as its light. December 27th: 'The Word became Flesh' Preacher Canon Alan Cole This is the Feast of St John the Evangelist. Alan Cole will preach on the prologue to St John's Gospel, read as the Gospel at Christmas communion services, that speaks of the 'word became flesh'. |
Meditative Eucharist - Sunday at Five
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Carol services and Christmas services
Sunday 6th December 5.00pm: Advent Carol Service Carols and readings for Advent, with the choir of Queens' College. Followed by mulled wine and mince pies. Sunday 20th December 11.00am: Christingle Service A family carol service with Christingles, for people of all ages. Thursday 24th December 11.30pm: Christmas Eve Midnight Mass The first Communion of Christmas, with carols and candlelight. Preacher: Canon Fraser Watts Friday 25th December - Christmas Day 8.00am Holy Communion (1662). Canon Alan Cole 10.30am: Christmas Day Carol Service Readings and carols for Christmas Day. Preacher: Revd Dr Malcolm Guite. Followed at 11.30am by a short service of Holy Communion. Canon Fraser Watts. |
Contemplative Eucharists: There will be a contemplative Eucharist, with much silence, at 5.00pm on Saturday 28th November, the Eve of Advent Sunday.
Holistic Spirituality Group: Sunday 13th December at 3.30pm, chaired by Malcolm.
Goth Eucharists: Dec 1st and 15th at 8.30pm. Preacher: Malcolm Guite.
Housegroup: Fortnightly meeting at 30 Rustat Road, at 7.30pm on Dec 7th and 21st. New members welcome.
Meditation: The meditation group meets regularly on Fridays at 5.30pm (except Dec 25th). Led by Fraser.
Healing: There will be laying on of hands for healing at the 5.00pm Eucharist on Sunday Dec 20th.
New Year's Eve: There will be a short watchnight service at 11.40pm on 31st December, followed by ringing in of the New Year, and refreshments in the ringing chamber.
Chapter: The next meeting is at 6.30pm on Tuesday Dec 8th in the Faculty of Divinity.
Sunday 8.00am Communion: Dec 6th: Advent 2; Dec 13th: Advent 3; Dec 20th: Advent 4; Dec 27th: No service.
Advent and Christmas at St Edwards: The Tardis Effect (Malcolm Guite)
Stepping into St Edwards is very like stepping on board the Tardis! Let me explain. As a child in the generation who 'grew up on Doctor Who', one of the things I most enjoyed about the series was the contrast between the small incongruous outside of the 'ordinary police call box' which was the Tardis, (the hero's home and his time-space machine) and the fabulous 'inside' that greeted you when you walked through the door. Vast, spacious, intriguing, full of unexplored avenues and new possibilities, the Tardis was bigger on the inside than the outside! Now I have just that feeling both about St Edwards, and about the heart of Christmas.
St Edwards is for many in Cambridge 'that lovely little church, almost hidden, tucked away in a little place behind the market' and yet whenever I came through its doors, (and this was long before I belonged to the St Edwards community), I always had the sense, even physically, that it was bigger inside than outside! It looks small, but feels spacious, looks snug, but feels light and airy, looks ordinary from the outside but feels extraordinary once you're inside. And if that is true outwardly and visibly how much more so inwardly and spiritually! Here is a church whose teaching and spirituality give you room to breathe, don't cramp your mind, but rather open up new vistas, in spirituality, meditation, and theological exploration.
But what has all this to do with Christmas? Well perhaps St Edwards has this 'Tardis effect' because its spirituality is ultimately centred on the Christmas miracle, on how the small particular, 'ordinary' moment of a tiny child's birth in a little stable some how contained all the vast possibilities of God's eternal love. This Advent and Christmas tide as you go through the little outward door of St Edwards, and through the little outward doors of the words of our liturgy, may you find yourself suddenly ushered into the vast spaces, the limitless possibilities of God's love, may you 'have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.'
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An Advent Prayer
Let me love, Thee, O Christ, in Thy first coming, when Thou wast made man, for love of men, and for love of
me. Let me love Thee, O Christ, in Thy second coming, when with an inconceivable love Thou standest and
knockest at the door, and wouldst enter into the souls of men, and into mine. Plant in my soul, O Christ, Thy
likeness of love, that when by death thou callest, it may be ready and burning to come to Thee. Amen. Eric Milner-White, Bishop of York, d. 1963 |
Clergy: Revd Dr Fraser Watts (19, Grantchester Road, CB3 9ED; 359223); Revd Dr Malcolm Guite (694249); Canon Alan Cole (892286). Lay Chaplain: Mrs Christina Johnson (572669) Churchwardens: Mr Steven Mastin (361041); Mrs Judith Tonry (892160). Treasurer: Mr Geoffrey Barnes. Chapter Clerk: Mr Stephen Davies (242636). Church phone: 362004