JULY 2006
SERVICES
| 2nd Trinity 2 | 23rd Trinity 5 |
|---|---|
| 8.00 am Holy Communion | 8.00 am Holy Communion |
| 11.00 am Odyssey | 11.00 am Mattins & Sermon |
| Preacher: Revd Donald Reeves | Preacher: Revd Dr Malcolm Guite |
| 5.00 pm Meditative Eucharist | 5.00 pm Meditaitive Eucharist |
| Preacher:Revd Dr Malcolm Guite | Preacher: Revd Dr Malcolm Guite |
| 9th Trinity 3 | 30th Trinity 6 |
| 8.00 am Holy Communion | 8.00 am Holy Communion |
| 11.00 am Mattins & Sermon | 11.00 am Mattins & Sermon |
| Preacher: Canon Alan Cole | Preacher: Revd Dr Fraser Watts |
| 5.00 pm Meditative Eucharist | 5.00 pm Meditative Eucharist |
| Preacher: Revd Dr Fraser Watts | Preacher: Canon Alan Cole |
| 16th Trinity 4 | Fridays |
| 8.00 am Holy Communion | 10.30 am Holy Communion |
| 11.00 am Parish Communion | |
| Preacher: Revd Dr Fraser Watts | |
| 5.00 pm Meditative Eucharist | 5.30 pm Meditation |
| Preacher: (to be announced) |
11.00 am READINGS
Theme Old Testament/Epistle New Testament/Gospel
2 Reconciliation M Lee TBA J Billett Matthew 5. 3-10
9 Revelation A. Finn Isaiah 62. 1-5 C Martin Revelation 3. 14-end
16 Abundance L Adenrele 1 Peter 3. 8-15a Chaplain Luke 5. 1-11
23 Invitation J Dent 2 Samuel 7. 4-14a D Hirst Luke 14. 15-24
30 Healing G Barnes 2 Kings 5. 1-14 E Edwards John 5. 1-13
August
6th C Robson & S Mastin
13th M Lee & P Marshall
20th J Dent &Chaplain
27th C Martin & J Billett
Odyssey
A new service connecting soul-life and the big issues of our time. Come and join us in this voyage of exploration for mind, body and spirit.
July 2nd at 11.00 am Donald Reeves on ‘The Moral Imagination: Reconciliation in Bosnia’
Donald Reeves is a former vicar of St James' Piccadilly, under whose leadership the Church was unusually hospitable to New Age spirituality. He is now Director of Soul of Europe, working for reconciliation in Bosnia.
Goth Eucharists: There will be Goth Eucharists on June 20th, July 4th & 18th at 8.30 for 8.45pm.
Healing: There will be laying on of hands for healing at the 5.00 pm Eucharist on Sunday 30th July.
Meditation: The Friday meditations (5.30 pm) will be led by Nick Buxton on 23rd and 30th June, and then by Fraser Watts from July 2nd.
Ordinations:
Please remember the following who will be ordained this Petertide:
Angie Stanton to be
ordained Priest in Bury Parish Church on 24th June
Adrian Whitehall to be
ordained Deacon in Sheffield Cathedral on 25th June
Edward Green to be
ordained Priest in Ely Cathedral on 1st July
Peter Hansell to be
ordained Priest in Birmingham Cathedral on 2nd July.
Chapter: The Chapter will meet at 6.00 pm on Tuesday 4th June in Queens’ College.
Chaplain’s Letter
I recently heard a very interesting talk by Jonathan Miller about his brand of atheism. It is an interesting subject, and one that it is in the missionary interests of the Church to understand better.
There are different kinds of atheists. Jonathan Miller was contrasting his kind of atheism with that of, say, Richard Dawkins, probably Britain's best-known atheist at present. Jonathan Miller says he has never been religious, and that it had never occurred to him to believe in God. There had been no struggle about it; it had simply never been an issue for him. However, he does seem to have some religious instinct, and described himself as a ‘pious atheist’.
Richard Dawkins, in contrast, obviously cares passionately about his atheism, to the point where it is a kind of religious faith. Unlike Jonathan Miller, he came from a religious background, and I understand that his parents were missionaries who held a conservative form of Christianity. I have been told that he grew up thinking that Christians like himself could not accept evolution. Then, as a teenager, he accepted evolution and rejected Christianity, continuing to assume that they were incompatible.
One intriguing thing about passionate atheists like Dawkins is that they often have a very clear idea of the God in whom they do not believe. Dawkins’ God requires blind faith and the suspension of all rational judgment. He passionately rejects such a God, but it is not the God in whom most Christians believe. Different atheists are rejecting different versions of Christianity, but often they are rejecting a distorted version of what Christians believe.
Another influential atheist was Sigmund Freud, who tried to produce psychological explanations of why people believed in God. However, it didn't occur to him that there might just as well be psychological explanations for his own atheism, and why he rejected the Christianity of his influential Nanny.
Freud wrote about how people have a pervasive sense of helplessness and the unpredictability of life, and that they compensate for that by believing in a God who is loving and all-powerful. That may have been more autobiographical than he intended or realised. Again, the God in whom Freud disbelieved is not quite the one that most Christians believe in. My experience is that God often calls us into the uncertainty of discipleship, rather than making everything safe and predictable.
Understanding atheism better can help Christians clarify the God in whom they believe. That, in turn, leads on to the task of explaining our faith better. We may end up realising that Christians and atheists agree about more than they supposed, and that atheists are often rejecting a ‘straw man’.
Fraser Watts
Vicar-Chaplain: Revd. Dr. Fraser Watts (19, Grantchester Road, CB3 9ED; 359223, fnw1001@cam.ac.uk) Revd Dr Malcolm Guite (mg320@cam.ac.uk); Canon Alan Cole (892286, abc-73@tiscali.co.uk); People’s Warden & Chapter Sec: Dr. Elizabeth Edwards (313570, elizedwards@waitrose.com); Chaplain’s Warden: Mr Jesse Billett (476751, jdb43@cam.ac.uk); Reader Mr. Peter Marshall (564471) Treasurer: Mr Geoffrey Barnes; (717757, Geoff.Barnes@cambridgeshire.gov.uk).