June 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

Sunday at Eleven June 7th: Odyssey Preacher Canon Roger Royle Canon Roger Royle is a well-known priest, broadcaster and journalist, best known for his 16 years as presenter of Sunday Half-hour, and his regular column in Women's Weekly. In this Odyssey talk he will explore why decisions are so difficult to make, and how we can hold together a variety of conflicting considerations in making them. June 14th: Vocations Service Preacher Canon Fraser Watts It will shortly be time for the annual round of Petertide ordinations. St Edward's is a church where there are many people offering themselves for ordination or some other form of religiously committed life. At this service we reflect on Christian vocation, and pray for those offering themselves for service in the church. June 21st: Eucharist: The three-fold God Preacher Canon Fraser Watts This Eucharist falls early in the Trinity season, and we will ponder the mystery of the three-foldness of God, and worship the God who is Father (Creator), Son (Christ) and Holy Ghost (Spirit). June 28th: Family service and baptism Preacher Revd Dr Malcolm Guite On this Sunday, near mid-summer, we will have a special Eucharist at 5.00 pm that we invite some of the regular morning congregation to attend. The 11.00 am service will be family service, intended primarily for families with young children. The theme will be water. The service will include the baptism of Alex East.

Meditative Eucharist - Sunday at Five June 7th: Trinity Sunday Preacher Charley Moloney This will be Charlie Maloney's last service with us, after two years on attachment to St Edward's while training for ordination at Ridley Hall, and he will preach a farewell sermon. June 14th: Corpus Christi Preacher Christina Johnson On this Corpus Christi Sunday (literally 'body of Christ'), we give thanks for the Eucharist, and reflect on Jesus Christ, the 'Bread of Life' and the 'True Vine'. June 21st: Soul-scapes 1: The trees in the wood Preacher Revd Dr Malcolm Guite The first in a fortnightly series of sermons by Malcolm Guite, linking nature and spirituality, 'soul-scapes'. June 21st: The Trees in the Wood; July 5th: The River and the Sea; July 19th: The Valley and Mountain. June 28th: St Peters' Eve United Summer Eucharist Preacher Canon Fraser Watts A united mid-summer service for both morning and evening congregations, and a celebration of St Peter's Day. Followed by refreshments and entertainment at Queens' College.

Eve of Pentecost: There will be a contemplative Eucharist, at 5.00 pm on May 29th, to pray for the Holy Spirit.

Midsummer Eucharist: Following recent practice we will have a special Midsummer Eucharist at 5.00 pm on Sunday 28th June, and we invite members of the morning to join the evening one on that occasion (just as members of the evening congregation join the morning one on Easter Day). After the service, there will be refreshments and entertainment in the Solarium of Queens' College. The 11.00am service that day will be aimed at young familes and will include a baptism.

Goth Eucharists: Alternate Tuesdays at 8.30 pm. Liturgy, secular music and sermons on challenging issues. June 2nd: Freedom and Bondage (Sara Ball); June 19th: Colours of Love (i) - blue (Malcolm Guite)

Holistic Spirituality Group: The group will meet on June 7th and 21st. It is focusing this term on the relationhip between Christianity and New Age.

Chapter: Following the annual elections, the Chapter consists of Fraser Watts, Malcolm Guite and Alan Cole (clergy), Steven Mastin and Judith Tonry (churchwardens), Elizabeth Edwards and Geoffrey Barnes (Synod members), Ray Adams, Chris Boden, Stephen Davies, Roger Griffin, Megan Hunter, Christina Johnson, Michael Lee, Ruth Lynden-Bell, Martin Mellusco and Adrian Stacey (elected members).

Charlie Moloney: Charlie's last Sunday with us, after 2 years on the attachment from Ridley Hall, will be June the 7th, and he will preach a farewell sermon at the 5.00pm Eucharist. He will be ordained in Sothwell Minster on July 5th, and will move to Retford, where he will serve as a Deacon. His time with us has been much appreciated, and he has made many friends here. We hold him in our prayers as he embarks on ordained ministry.

Housegroup: We are starting a regular housegroup for those who would find it helpful to meet regularly with other members of the congregation. The first one will probably meet on Wednesday evenings. We may start other house groups shortly, meeting at different times and frequencies. If you are interested at all, please let Fraser know.

Sunday 8.00 am Holy Communion: The Epistles and Gospels, from the Book of Common Prayer, will be: June 7th: Trinity Sunday; June 14th: Trinity 1; June 21st: Trinity 2; June 28th: Trinity 3

Readers at 11.00 am: 7th F Woodhead and C Walker; 14th Ordinands; 21st G Barnes

Chaplain's Letter: Exposure and Healing (Malcolm Guite)

Can we bring the current crisis in the House of Commons into the light of Christ? There is understandable indignation at the crooked practices, special pleading, and in many cases sheer mendacity and greed on the part of our elected representatives which has been exposed to public scrutiny in the last few weeks. In one sense the light of Christ's moral teaching brings their failings into even sharper focus. He asked his followers to go beyond the mere letter of 'the rules' and enter into the self-sacrificing and generous spirit that lay behind them, replacing Old Testament legislation with a far-reaching spirit of openness and love. He was therefore very clear in condemning the hypocrisy of those who enforced laws on others whilst keeping neither the letter nor the spirit of that law themselves. However that is not the whole story, for Christ also said 'do not judge and you will not be judged... the measure you give is the measure you will receive... forgive us, as we forgive others...'.

Christ's light exposes sin, not to mock it, gloat or triumph over it, but to heal it, for Christ always loves the sinner whose sin is thus exposed. Indeed that exposure is the first work of His healing love. Can we respond to this crisis in a Christ-like way?

We face two challenges. Whilst we must be glad that wrong-doing has been exposed, bringing a real prospect of reforming the system, we must not ourselves become hypocritical Pharisees. We must not point the finger at shamed MPs without pausing to ask whether every aspect of our own lives and dealings would stand such vigorous and hostile scrutiny. We may be offended by their moats but mustn't forget the tale of motes and beams. Secondly we must pray for those who have been most exposed, shamed and vilified; particularly if we think they deserved it. We must pray that the pain of their shame, which is a mere bruising of the ego, may become in God's grace a prompt to self-questioning, to genuine contrition, to repentance, and so to personal renewal for the individuals who have been 'caught out'. We must pray that this break-down, a break-down of probity, a break-down of trust, may in God's grace become a break-through, a break-through to a new and better order for the House of Commons and a personal break-through out of the prison of greed and self-seeking, to a new life and a new relation with God and with others for those who have been named and shamed.

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