October 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 |
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Sunday at Eleven
October 4th: Odyssey: How prayer transforms us Preacher Canon Fraser Watts This Odyssey sermon will conclude the series on spirituality that Fraser has been preaching over the summer. He will look at how various aspects of prayer, such as adoration, confession, thanksgiving, intercession and petition, work at the human level, and how they transform our thought processes. October 11th: Service for World Mental Health Week: living through the dark times Preachers Revd John Nicholson and Canon Fraser Watts We will be joined for this service by the Revd John Nicholson (Senior Mental Health Chaplain, Cambridge and Peterborough NHS Trust). There will also be participation from users of mental health services. The theme will be how we can survive the experience of depression and hopelessness, and acknowledging the improtance of spiritual factors. October 18th: Eucharist: commemoration of Reformation Martyrs Preacher Revd Dr Malcolm Guite St Edward's was probably the first church in England where the Reformers preached openly (in 1525), and we give thanks for the Christian witness in our church of Thomas Bilney, Hugh Latimer, Robert Barnes and others. October 25th: Dedication Festival Service Preacher Revd Dr Malcolm Guite During the service we will use Malcolm's ppoems about the font, communion table and pulpit at St Edward's. They will help us to learn about the building in which our worship takes place. |
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Meditative Eucharist - Sunday at Five
Starting on September 27th, Fraser will preach a series of sermons on 'spiritual paradoxes'. The paradoxes at the heart of Christianity turn our values and assumptions upside down, and make us look at things afresh.
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Caught up in the story (led by Malcolm Guite) Wednesdays at 5.30 - 7.00pm: A five-week series of story-telling and reflection on the power of story, from ancient scriptures to modern life.
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Beta course: Several people have expressed interest in the Beta course, a psychologically-informed video-based introduction to Christian life and faith, developed by Fraser and colleagues. It covers topics such as relationships, forgiveness and reconciliation, depression, loss and change, stress and coping, suffering and wholeness, Christian community, sin and atonement, self and God. The course is open to anyone interested. If you would be interested, please let Fraser known, and we will try to find a time that suits everyone.
Holistic spirituality group: The holistic group that meets on Sundays at 3.30 pm will probably resume on Sunday October 11th (TBC).
Gothic Eucharists: Tuesdays at 8.30 pm. Rich liturgy, contemporary music and challenging sermons. Malcolm will complete his Colours of Love series. September 22nd: Red; October 6th: Purple. Continuing fortnightly.
LGBT group: The group will resume one Sunday evening in October; details to follow, or contact Chris Boden.
Sunday 8.00 am Holy Communion: October 4th: Trinity 17; October 11th: Trinity 18; October 18th: Trinity 19; October 25th: Trinity 20
Chapter: The next meeting of the Chapter is on Tuesday 29th September at 6.30pm.
Chaplain's Letter (Fraser Watts)
I am delighted that Malcolm will be leading a series of Wednesday evening sessions on story-telling this autumn. There are many reasons why Christians should take story telling seriously. One is that Jesus was Himself a great story-teller; it was His preferred mode of teaching and influencing people, the vehicle through which He helped people to reconstruct how they looked at life, the universe and everything. Some of Jesus' stories, such as The Prodigal Son and The Good Samaritan, are among the greatest stories ever told. Jesus is also very effective in the way He uses images to make His points quickly and powerfully.
Another reason for taking stories seriously is that they influence us at a deeper level than more abstract religious teaching. There is increasing scientific evidence that the human mind operates at two levels. There is a rational level in which our throughs are relatively easy to put into words. However, there is also a deeper level that is more intuitive and influential, where thoughts are harder to articulate. Our most powerful religious experiences arise at this deeper level. The importance of story lies partly in the fact that it is able to speak to this intuitive level of the human mind.
It is useful for us all to reflect on the stories that have been most influential in our lives, and have moved us most. Why these particular stories, rather than others? Some will be bible stories; some will be stories from great classical literature; some will be stories we have been told about friends or family. We learn about ourselves by reflecting on why particular stories have lodged themselves in our minds. It is also significant how we interpret those stories, what they mean to us.
Many stories speak to us of a world that goes beyond everyday experience, a rich world that stimulates our imagination, and releases us from the tyranny of common sense. In stories, the extraordinary can often happen. Stories help to open our minds to how, through the grace of God, extraordinary things can happen in everyday life as well. C S Lewis is one of those who, in the twentieth century, used stories to open people's minds to spiritual truths.
One of the most important stories for all of us is the story we tell about ourselves. Our sense of identity is very much bound up with how we understand our personal story. It is one of the points at which it makes a profound difference to be a Christian. Our story about ourselves will be one in which a central strand is how our relationship with God has developed. In particular, the story of Jesus will be a key part of the context in which we tell our own life story. Our story about ourselves will be formed and shaped by the story of Jesus, until the two become intertwined.
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