Letter From Alex - December 2012 & January 2013

December 2012 / January 2013

Dear Friends,

S

O…. HERE WE ARE, heading fast for the end of another year. If you’re anything like me, it probably seems like five minutes since last Christmas and you have no idea where the months in between have gone!

I think 2012 – so far – has been a pretty memorable year. Certainly it’s been a big year for our country; we hosted the Olympics and the Paralympics, there was the Queen’s diamond jubilee with all its associated celebrations and we saw British players in the Wimbledon finals at long last! There was an election in America, scandal and warfare ruled the headlines as usual, and the Great  British summer was a washout – again. And of course, if rumours are to be believed, 2012 will be the last year that we see, as the world is predicted to end on 21^st December, when the ancient Mayan calendar comes to an end!

We, perhaps it’s not so likely that the end of the world will come in the next month or so. But what if it did? We all go around living our lives as if everything will last for ever – but of course, it won’t. Even if the world doesn’t end, our earthly lives will, one day; and if we knew that it really would all come to an end within a matter of weeks, what would we do? Are there things we haven’t done that we would really regret missing out on? Are there sights we would have wanted to see, places we would have wanted to visit? And what about the more personal things? With whom would we want to spend those last weeks of the world? Would we regret not taking more time for our friends and loved ones, regret things we said in the heat of the moment, wish that we had taken our chances to have fun and laugh with others rather than do all those tasks that seemed so important at the time? It can be a good learning exercise to imagine what we would regret; and what we wish we had done instead. Because if the world doesn’t end next month – then there may still be time to put things right.

And as we think about the turning of the year, we have no idea what 2013 will hold for us. But whatever it brings, we need to remember that we don’t go into the future alone. God is in all the places that we have ever been, all through our lives; and the God who is beyond time is already in all the places that we will go during the years to come. Whatever meets us in the future, wherever we may find ourselves, God will be there before us, waiting to meet us, to rejoice with us or to weep with us, to guide us, reassure us and show us the next step forward. We never travel alone. Jesus himself promised that he would be with us even until the end of the age – whenever that may be.

In 1908, an anthology of poems entitled “The Desert” was published. It was by a little known author called Minnie Haskins and it included a poem called “God Knows”. Its first lines are now well known; but the rest of it is well worth a read. And may God’s light shine before us all as we head into 2013 together.

And I said to the man

who stood at the gate of the year:

“Give me a light

that I may tread safely into the unknown.”

And he replied:

“Go out into the darkness

and put your hand into the Hand of God.

That shall be to you better than light

and safer than a known way.”

So I went forth,

and finding the Hand of God,

trod gladly into the night.

And He led me towards the hills

and the breaking of day in the lone East.

So heart be still:

What need our little life

Our human life to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low,
God hideth His intention.

God knows. His will
Is best. The stretch of years
Which wind ahead, so dim
To our imperfect vision,
Are clear to God. Our fears
Are premature; In Him,
All time hath full provision.

Then rest: until
God moves to lift the veil
From our impatient eyes,
When, as the sweeter features
Of Life’s stern face we hail,
Fair beyond all surmise
God’s thought around His creatures

Team Confirmation Service

Sunday 18^th November

W

E WERE BLESSED to have a truly wonderful service of Confirmation at St. John’s, Wolverley, on Sunday 18^th November. This was a joint service with the churches of the KPCTM team. The sun poured down on a beautiful late autumn morning and the church was almost full as the candidates, their families and supporters and members of all the congregations gathered to share in the Confirmation service and the Eucharist.

The service was led by the Right Reverend Mark Santer, former Bishop of Birmingham and Honorary Assistant Bishop to the Diocese of Worcester. The eight candidates came from St. Mary’s, Kidderminster; St. Barnabas at Franche; St. Peter’s at Cookley and from the neighbouring parish of St. Mary’s, Alveley. All of them were presented by Confirmation Sponsors and all made their declarations and promises with enthusiasm, honesty and clarity. It was a privilege to see these eight people make such a public commitment to their faith, to receive the sacrament of Confirmation and, for seven of them, also to receive their first Holy Communion during the service. There was much rejoicing after the service as refreshments were served and numerous photos taken as mementos of a very special day.

Please do continue to remember the newly confirmed – Gill, Lynne, Andy, Rachel, James, Kirsty and Ryan – in your prayers. If you are thinking of Confirmation for yourself and would like find out more, please speak to any member of the clergy, or look out for information in the magazine around the middle of next year.

 Revd. Alex Vaccaro

From the Parish Registers

           

Christenings

Joshua Xavier Roath; 14^th October at St. John’s, Wolverley

Oskar-Owen Stanley Round; 14^th October at St. John’s, Wolverley

Katy Elizabeth Rose Hopkins; 28^th October at St. John’s, Wolverley

Brody Benjamin Hull; 4^th November at St. John’s, Wolverley

Kobi Leon Roberts; 11^th November at St. John’s, Wolverley

Adam John Williamson; 11^th November at St. John’s, Wolverley

Cerys Victoria Morris; 18^th November at St. Peter’s, Cookley

Weddings

Martin Zinzan and Jennifer Holden; 6^th October at St. John’s, Wolverley

James Hough and Rachel Fortune; 20^th October at St. John’s, Wolverley

Funerals

Dorothy Eileen Ann Newbould; 17^th October at St. John’s, Wolverley

Rose Reaves of Cookley; 24^th October at Wyre Forest Crematorium

Stephen Henry O’Connor of Wolverley; 26^th October at Wyre Forest Crematorium

Phylis Mary Leake of Cookley; 31^st October at Wyre Forest Crematorium

Doreen Walker; 30^th November at St. John’s, Wolverley

Confirmed at St. John’s, Wolverley; Sunday 18^th November

Ryan Aldridge                   Lynne Daniels                   Gillian Salt   

Andrew Seymour               James Seymour                Rachel Seymour

Kirsty Williams