January 2009

Services

Sunday Services	Friday Services
8.00 am Holy Communion (Prayer book)	10.30 am Holy Communion (Prayer book)
11.00 am Sunday at Eleven	5.30 pm Meditation
5.00 pm Meditative Eucharist

Greetings for Christmas and the New Year We extend warmest greetings at this time to everyone associated with St Edward’s. Though there are many dark things in the world, we celebrate the light of Christ that cannot be overcome by the darkness. We cannot foresee what the New Year will bring, and no doubt it will contain both good and bad things. Whatever transpires, may we at St Edward’s stay close to the spirit of Christ, and be a beacon of of his light. (Fraser Watts)

Sunday at Eleven January 4th: Odyssey Preacher Revd Duncan Dormor Duncan Dormor, the Dean of St John's College in Cambridge, who teaches sociology of religion and sexual ethics in the University. His subject will be 'Secular Visions and Ancient Wisdom'. It will also be a service in which we commemorate the coming of the three Kings to Jesus. January 11th: Eucharist Preacher Canon Fraser Watts The theme of this first Sunday in Epiphany is the Baptism of Jesus, a key moment in Jesus' life in which he was revealed as the Son of God, a moment rich in symbolism of personal transformation. January 18th: Christian Unity Service Preacher Revd Dr Janet Tollington This Sunday is the beginning of the annual week of prayer for Christian Unity, and Sunday at Eleven will be a Christian Unity service. Janet Tollington, who will preach, is a minister of the United Reformed Church, and teaches the Old Testament at Westminster College in Cambridge. January 25th: Service for Homelessness Sunday Preacher Revd Dr Malcolm Guite On this Homelessness Sunday we will focus on the needs of the homeless, and those who try to meet those needs. Cambridge is a city to which homeless people seem to be drawn, so it is always an important issue for us and one we can never forget.

Meditative Eucharist - Sundays at Five
January 4th:	The wise men come to Jesus (Malcolm Guite)
January 11th:	The Baptism of Christ. This service will include a renewal of baptismal vows. (Malcolm Guite)
January 18th:	Reconciliation in Personal Relationships
January 25th:	Reconciliation in the Church. This service will mark the end of Christian Unity week

New Year's Eve: There will be a short watchnight service at 11.40 pm on 31st December, followed by ringing in of the New Year, and refereshments in the ringing chamber. All are welcome.

Holistic Spirituality Group: This group, which meets on alternate Sunday afternoons at 3.30 pm, chaired by Malcolm Guite, will meet on Jan 11th and 25th. The theme for this quarter will be Christianity and Buddhism.

Goth Eucharists: Alternate Tuesdays at 8.30 pm. In January, the focus will continue to be on the deadly sins. Jan 13th: Malcolm Guite on Gluttony; Jan 27th: Suzanne Cooke on Pride.

Meditation Group: The meditation group meets regularly on Fridays at 5.30 pm, led by Fraser.

Christian Unity:The annual week of prayer for Christian Unity begins on Sunday January 18th, when the 11.00 am service will be a Christian Unity service. It concludes on Sunday January 25th, when the 5.00 pm service will focus on reconciliation in the church.

Pew Bibles: Some people find it helpful to have Bibles with them during the service. We have a small stock of Revised English Bibles for use in the pews. Please ask for one with your hymnbook if you would like one. It will be helpful for us to find out how much demand for them there is, and what sort of Bibles people find most useful to have in the pews. We will then get a larger set of pew Bibles if members of the congregation would find that helpful. Fraser would welcome views and suggestions.

Confirmation: It has become a St Edward’s tradition in recent years for members of our congregation to be confirmed at Easter Eve in Ely Cathedral. There are already two or three people who have expressed interest in being confirmed next Easter. If there is anyone else who is considering it, please have a word with Malcolm or Fraser. During February, we will begin a course on Christian Basics for anyone interested, including those considering confirmation, though there is no need to make a definite decision about confirmation before beginning the course.

Chaplain's Letter: Consumed or Renewed

Last year we acquired a new neighbour. I refer to Corpus Christi's magnificent golden Chronophage, and in particular to the monstrous locust perched on top of it, which is constantly, as the name chronophage suggests, eating time. This bizarre and beautiful clock, or rather public sculpture, is certainly a great success and attracts a more or less constant crowd of intrigued onlookers. But I would like to reflect for a moment and to challenge what it is saying about time.

The Chronophage sees only that time that is constantly consumed, it sees our minutes hasten to their end; it measures 'the years that the locust hath eaten'. This is certainly one aspect of our experience of time, but only one. Time is fleeting, but it is also constantly renewed, and for every worn and spent moment that is taken from us another is given, pristine and beautiful.

I invite you therefore to imagine a different image, to set up in your minds on the tower of St. Edwards a beautiful clock with round golden circles like the Corpus Choronopgage. Like the Chronophage it takes its motion from a point beyond itself, but unlike the Chronophage, in our sculpture, time is not being clawed back and consumed; it is being poured out liberally and constantly renewed. We might christen it a Chronodor, a time-giver. It would witness to God’s promise, in the book of Joel: 'I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten.'

In our imaginary sculpture the figure above the golden circles is not a ravenous locust but an angel of God, taking the riches of eternity and pouring them out moment by moment into the circles of time. Such was the vision of Dante, who saw time and motion as ultimately given and renewed by Divine Love, by what he called, in the last line of his great poem; 'the Love that moves the sun and the other stars.'

The Corpus Chronophage cost a cool million. The St. Edward’s Chronodor is completely free, an image of God’s mysterious liberality which invites you, in this new year, to receive and cherish each new moment as a free gift from your loving God. 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. Chapter Clerk: Mr Stephen Davies (242636, stephdvs@btinernet.com). Church phone: 362004