Letter from the Vicarage – June 2011

Dear Friends,

We have some important celebrations this month.  On Sunday 12th June it is Whitsunday or Pentecost as it is being called more and more these days.  I much prefer the rather more English term “Whitsunday” or White Sunday.  It refers to the practice of having baptisms particularly on that day and dressing  babies in white.  Whatever name we give it is an important day in the life of the church.  It celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit initially on the disciples.  It is when it all began.  It is regarded as the birthday of the Church.  Fleur Bradley, our Reader will be presenting a special service on Radio Hereford and Worcester.  Do listen in.

We also celebrate our Patronal Festivals this month.  24th June is the east of the Nativity of John the Baptist.  It is rather interesting that this saint’s major festival is a commemoration of his birth, whereas it is a general rule to remember saints on the day of their death when it is known.  I suppose this is because the birth of John the Baptist is so closely linked with that of Jesus.  John the Baptist was six months older than Jesus and his festival therefore comes exactly six months after Christmas.  The depressing thought is that we are then halfway through the year.  It’s all downhill after that!

This year we are celebrating it with a Flower Festival done for us by the Floral Art Club.  It will be open from Friday 24th until Sunday 26th, which we keep as our Patronal Festival.  There will be a special Songs of Praise service at 6.30pm that evening.

Saint Peter, the Patron Saint of Cookley comes very close.  His day is increasingly linked with Saint Paul. Partly because it is our Patronal Festival, I prefer to celebrate Saint Peter on his own.  After all Saint Paul has his own celebration in January, so why should an important saint like Peter not be given a day to himself?  Also they didn’t see eye to eye if we’re completely honest.  There were tensions between personalities even in the Church in its early days.  The Feast of Saint Peter is 29th June, although because of where it comes in the week we shall celebrate it as our Patronal Festival on Sunday 3rd July.  With all good wishes,

Yours sincerely,

Geoffrey

From the Parish Registers
          
Christenings
Ava Lily Alice Hackett at Wolverley - 24th April
Victoria Susan Allen, Georgia Susan Thomson, Francesca Lilian Thomas and Alfie Paul Harvey at Cookley - 1st May
Eve Frankie Jones at Wolverley - 7th May
George Leonera Philip Paxton at Cookley - 21st May

Weddings
Lee Hazelwood and Charlotte Stroud at Wolverley - 7th May
Joshua Yarnell and Katie Shuker at Wolverley - 28th May

Funerals
Roger Matthew of Kidderminster (Service at Cookley) - 10th May
Derek Lavelle of Cookley (Service at Stourbridge) - 10th May

Letter from the Vicarage – May 2011

Dear Friends,

Last month a group of us were able to meet with Owain Bell, the Team Rector of Saint Mary’s in Kidderminster. This completes the beginnings of our conversations about the future of Wolverley and Cookley within the Team Ministry of Saint Mary’s next year.  But it is a conversation which needs to continue. We had a similar meeting with Owain at Saint Peter’s, Cookley some weeks earlier.

Owain was at pains to point out at both meetings that this was going to affect the Saint Mary’s Team just as much as our two parishes.  It was going to be a joint venture of exploration and discovery through largely unchartered waters.   However, he did say that although some adjustments will no doubt be necessary, every attempt will be made to preserve the existing pattern of services.

There would also be some benefits.  Because we shall be in a much larger team, we shall have access to a bigger pool of resources.  We shall have the benefit of a parish secretary, of a wider group of clergy and others with specialised skills.  We shall also be able to contribute something to the Team by giving some of the gifts and expertise we possess.

It is important that we start to worship and socialise together. We plan to hold a joint Eucharist at Saint John’s Wolverley on 2nd June (Ascension Day) at 7.30pm when we shall be joined by the St. Mary’s Team.

I hope that members of St. Peter’s Cookley will come to that as well despite the fact that as it’s a Thursday, there will be a communion there in the morning.

Fleur Bradley and I are also taking it in turns to go to the monthly Staff Meeting at Saint Mary’s so that we can feel part of the Team and can make a contribution to the discussion.

Although in some ways it is not like having one’s own Vicar, in the response to the economic and staffing changes we must make, it does present us with some exciting possibilities as well as some real challenges.

With all good wishes,

Geoffrey Shilvock & Owain Bell

From the Parish Registers         

Christenings

Rosemary Alice Bayley and Rebecca Bayley at St. Peter’s Cookley - 2nd April

Weddings

Lee John Perry & Aime Jay Owen at St. John the Baptist Wolverley - 30th April

Funerals

 

Mia Pocierznicki (baby) at St. Peter’s Cookley - 23rd March

George Kenneth Bridges at St. John the Baptist Wolverley - 7th April

William David Barker at St. Peter’s Cookley - 11th April

Kenneth Jenkins at Stourbridge Crematorium - 11th April

Michael Norman Watts at St. Peter’s Cookley - 12th April

Freda Marie Lawley at St. John the Baptist Wolverley - 13th April

Dorothy Hale at Stourbridge Crematorium - 15th April

Derrick Clifford Davies at St. John the Baptist Wolverley - 15th April

Maldwyn Thomas Roberts at Worcester Crematorium - 19th April

William Henry Field at St. John the Baptist Wolverley - 21st April

Wolverley Church Letter From The Vicarage - January 2010

Dear Friends,

A New Year and exciting possibilities.  New resolutions to try harder and do better.  A clean sheet on which to write new experiences.  Another beginning.  Another chance.  Our God is a God of new chances. Of new beginnings and forgiveness.  And we should likewise be ready to make a new start and to give others a new chance to start again all over.  We should sit lightly to our experiences and not be bogged down by them, but always travel lightly as we venture into the unknown.  We must have faith that the God who has protected us in the past will do so in the future.  As the well-known hymn puts it:

O God our help in ages past
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast
And our eternal home.

The hymn goes on to talk of God’s time being of a different order from ours.  His priorities are often different too.  A thousand ages in his sight are like an evening gone.  We live on an ever-rolling stream that carries all before it and accomplishes God’s purposes.

We live in an age of increasing change and we become used to adjustments occurring.  That is a good thing, although it can be quite unsettling.  There is nothing fixed or final.  Everything is tentative.  The economic situation and climate change are only two of the issues we take with us into the New Year and they remind us that we cannot rely on anything at all.  The only “Un-changeable” is God.

May I wish you all a very happy New Year?

Yours,

Geoffrey Shilvock

Wolverley Church Letter From The Vicarage - December 2009

Dear Friends,

Already the shops are decorated for Christmas. It is a boom time for which I expect in this time of recession they are very thankful. We comment every year about the way this Festival starts earlier and earlier. In fact it overshadows the season of Advent. This is a time of preparation, not in the sense of buying all our presents, writing all the cards and making the Christmas pud. This is purely a modern phenomenon. There’s nothing wrong in that, so long as we don’t lose the particular emphasis of Advent.

This is an eager looking forward, an anticipation of Christmas. Advent means ‘coming’ when we think of the coming of Jesus as a human baby to live amongst us, and it is the second so-called penitential season of the church’s year. It should be a time of reflection, of introspection, of spiritual renewal. It is a time for making resolutions rather than January 1st. After all it is the beginning of the year – the church’s year at least. So let us spend a little extra time in prayer or meditation. Let us do a little more Bible reading and study. Let us think about how we are personally going to respond to this child who is born amongst us.

An Advent Prayer

Heavenly Father, during Advent, may we remember the greatest gift ever given: your only Son, Jesus Christ. Fill our hearts with joy day by day as we think of our Saviour putting aside His heavenly glory and coming among us. As a newborn baby, only a stable roof sheltered Him and ordinary, impoverished parents cared for Him. Your angels couldn’t contain themselves, but broke into the quiet night-watch of a group of humble shepherds. The heavenly messengers proclaimed the glorious news of the Saviour who would pay the price for our sins, the sign of Your goodwill to all men, and Your desire for peace on earth.

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, may our understanding grow and we wonder at His birth. By Christmas day, may our hearts overflow with rejoicing and thanksgiving? Let our gratitude overflow to each person we meet by demonstrating the peace and goodwill in our hearts -- not just at this joyful season but all the year round.

Thank you for sending your only son to earth for a specific purpose - to provide eternal life to all who accept Him.

Every Blessing

Geoffrey

Wolverley Church Letter From The Vicarage - November 2009

Dear Friends,

First of all may I thank everyone who participated In Back to Church Sunday.  It was a great success.  At Wolverley we had about 150 people come to church as against the usual 50 or so. Twenty or more were children.  At Cookley it coincided with the Harvest Festival and there was a good attendance there too.  Even if you invited someone and they did not come that doesn’t matter.  You took part.  We shall have to see if it has any lasting effect, but several people made the point that they thought it was worth doing for its own sake.  I’m sure that is right.  It was a joyful and relaxed occasion and one that we shall repeat in future years.

On Sunday September 6th I attended the welcoming service for Crawford Logan the new Methodist Minister who will serve Cookley amongst other places.  Logan comes from Rugby, although he is from Scotland originally where his wife is in hospital at present.  We pray for her and for Logan as he begins his ministry amongst us.  He will succeed Pam Garrrud.  I have heard from Pam several times and she and Trevor were settling down well in their new home.  However, I believe that Trevor’s mother is very ill, so it is a trying time for them.

Owain Bell, who is known to many of you because he did so much whilst I was incapacitated, accompanied Mary Austin, the Methodist Minister from Trinity, on a walk around the whole circuit.  They covered about forty miles in three days.  It was to help raise money for the refurbishment of Trinity Church after it was gutted by fire.

We offer them both our congratulations.  It was no mean feat.  About £1000 was raised.

Your friend and Vicar,

Geoffrey