Letter From The Vicarage - March 2012

Dear Friends,

I believe that Lent is a time for some serious thought about our Christian Faith.  We may choose to observe it in various ways – by giving something up like sweets, chocolates or cakes and by giving the money saved to a Charity.  It is actually good to do this from a health point of view.  It gives our bodies a rest.

This enables us to learn not to have dependence upon certain kinds of food.  It is also strengthening spiritually to follow some discipline.  It may not be the sweets or chocolates that matter in themselves, but it is the restraint that is important.

You may like to use the Lent Boxes for the Church Missionary Society which are available at the back of Church (or which can be obtained from the Vicar). You may like to take on something extra, like going to church midweek, doing some extra Bible Study or trying a new kind of prayer or meditation.  There are lots of ideas about. One idea is to sit in front of a cross or a lighted candle and use that as a focus for your thoughts.  There is no need to “think” about anything in particular; in fact to do so is not necessarily a good idea.  Just learn to be still and quiet and empty your thoughts, experiencing being in the present moment.  That may take some practicing.

But you can spend time thinking about your faith.  After all, Jesus spent the Forty Days in the Wilderness, working out his priorities and thinking about his Ministry.  That would be a good model to imitate.

Whatever you decide to do, and there is no right way, remember the words of Isaiah, who when speaking about fasting said,

“This is the kind of fasting I have chosen:
Loosen the chains of wickedness,
untie the straps of the yoke,
let the oppressed go free,
and break every yoke.
Share your food with the hungry,
take the poor and homeless into your house,
and cover them with clothes when you see them naked”.

What is important is the kind of life we lead and what Lent does for us in fostering that kind of life.

With all good wishes for Lent and for the Easter season,

Yours sincerely,

Geoffrey






From the Parish Registers
          
Funerals

Betty Nickolls at Cookley – 7th Feb
Ron Rice at Wyre Forest – 17th Feb
Gerald Heseltine at Cookley – 17th Feb
Derek Whitmore at Stourbridge – 21st Feb
Irene Young at Kidderminster Cemetery – 22nd Feb

Letter From The Vicarage - February 2012

Dear Friends,

I’m reading a very interesting book at the moment. It is called “Fix me; Love them.” It is subtitled “Christianity as it should be.” It was written by Matt Wells and the description of the book says: ‘So often, as followers of Christ, we feel it is our calling to "fix" people for God. But is this really the Christian life as Christ intends? Is it really our place to judge, condemn, and mould people into who we believe they need to be, or are we only to focus on bettering ourselves, so that we may better love others?

I suppose that this sums up my own attitude to religious faith and that’s why I find it so attractive. However, it made me think about what religion was for.

The theme of the book as the quotation says is that the main object of prayer and worship is the improvement of ourselves, not judgment of others or an attempt to squeeze them into a mould we think they ought to be forced into – an idea of Christianity that we have and which we feel that everyone should adopt. In other words to make other people just like us.

Our job is just to love other people. We’re all made in the likeness of God, which if we think about it means that we all – without exception – have the divine spark of life within us. The author maintains that every action and every behaviour is governed by the need to be loved and valued, however misguided that may be.

This means that we don’t need to expend time and energy trying to convert the world – an impossible task anyway, but that we should tend our own garden. It may be that others will see in us an example to follow and an inspiration for their own life. If that happens, then all very well; if not, then God still loves other people, accepts them and if he wishes, may use others to inspire them to go in a different direction to the one we have chosen to go.

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday 22^nd February. Have you given any thought to how you will keep it? Are you giving something up, or are you taking on something extra? Whatever it is it needs to be an expression of your own personality, in view of what I have just written.

With all good wishes,

Geoffrey

From the Parish Registers

Christenings

Ethan Jason Oliver at Wolverley - 1^st January

Funerals

Mollie Turvey at Cookley – 6^th January

Terry Maiden at Wolverley – 12^th January

Kate Bagshaw (Cookley) at Wyre Forest Crematorium – 17^th January

Pauline Coole (Sion Hill) at Wyre Forest Crematorium – 19^th January

Mandy Partridge at Cookley – 27^th January

Letter From The Vicarage - January 2012

Dear Friends,

 "A cold coming we had of it. Just the worst time of the year for a journey, and such a long journey…

So famously begins T.S. Eliot’s Journey of the Magi.  On January 6^th we celebrate the Epiphany, the coming of the wise men who were led to the Christ Child by following a star.  We normally concentrate on the gifts which they brought – gold, frankincense and myrrh, but this is primarily a story about a journey. 

They are mysterious people.  Did they come as tradition says from Persia, modern day Iran?  Did they come from different places?  Were there three of them because three gifts are mentioned, or were there more?  How did they arrive – on camels or horses? We don’t know.

What the story does tell us is that they travelled a distance and it was not an easy journey, as it wouldn’t be in those days.  There were no motorways or fast cars.  For anyone travelling a long way there were many hazards, from robbers to rough terrain.

The wise men followed a star and they travelled a long way to see Jesus.  It is an example to all of us as we tread out on another type of journey – the long journey of 2012 with all the hazards and difficulties we may meet along the way.  Nevertheless it is right that we follow the star of our dreams and aim for a definite goal.  It gives us hope and encouragement.

We are going to celebrate Epiphany on Friday 6^th January at Saint Peter’s Cookley at 7.30pm.  It is going to be a joint service with Wolverley and the Kidderminster Team.  Come and join us.

And I wish you all well as we travel together into the unknown, following our own star as we journey through 2012 and hopefully find the Holy Child in the most unexpected of places.

Yours,

Geoffrey

From the Parish Registers

Christenings

Esmé Paige Laker at Cookley –  20^th November

Oscar James Stafford-Hill at Wolverley – 4^th December

Funerals

Warren Preene at Wolverley - 30^th November

Duncan Ross – His ashes interred at Wolverley after funeral service in Australia - 6^th December

Cheryl Page-Horrocks at Cookley - 9^th December

Paul Duke at Cookley - 15^th December

Pat Beard at Wolverley - 16^th December

Raymond Shuck at Wolverley - 23^rd December

Letter From The Vicarage - December 2011

Dear Friends,

At this time of the year, if you’re anything like me you get all sorts of appeals for charities and special causes.  After all, this is the season of goodwill and we don’t want to be like Scrooge or like the priest and Levite in the Good Samaritan and ignore the cries of those in need.

Some of these good causes are really worthwhile supporting.  However, being realistic, we can’t help every one of them.  We need to be selective.  I have today received two appeals and I feel that we ought to try and assist where we can.

The first is from Practical Action.  It concerns the worst drought in the Horn of Africa for 60 years.  Carcasses of cattle litter the horizon and the wind carries the pungent smell of death.  There has only been one day of rain this year in the Mandera Valley – the so-called Valley of Death.

People often see to the needs of their animals before their own needs and the Vultures are waiting to swoop down.  If you feel that you able to help the  Charity can be contacted at The Schumacher Centre, Bourton on Dunsmore, Rugby, Warwickshire CV23 9QZ. 
Their website is www.practicalaction.org

The other appeal I’ve received is nearer home.  This is not asking for financial support, but to raise awareness of dementia.  The Department of Health supported by the Alzheimer’s Society, has launched a new campaign to raise early signs and symptoms of dementia.  Fewer than 50% of people get diagnosed with dementia at a sufficiently early stage, yet early diagnosis can significantly improve a patient’s quality of life and provide them with better treatment.  I have displayed some posters and there are leaflets available giving further information.

You may have other charities you want to support instead, but whatever we decide to do, we should help someone in need this Christmas.  In a way, that is a far more important way of keeping Christmas than buying each other presents we don’t really need.

Have a good and generous Christmas, Yours faithfully,

Geoffrey

Christenings

Samuel James Barber at Wolverley - 30th October 
Poppy Mae Small at Cookley - 6th November
Joshua Bramwell Pannell at Cookley - 12th November
Lily-Rose Gorman and Czar Frank Collins at Wolverley - 13th November



Confirmation

20th November (Feast of Christ the King) at Saint Mary’s, Kidderminster

                 Gillian Duffy
                   Jean Mander
                Fred Leeson
                   Oliver Milner



Funerals

Susan Jane Moore of Cookley at Stourbridge Crematorium - 14th October
Dorothy Vera Pagett of Wolverley at Stourbridge Crematorium - 20th October
Barry John Hatton of Cookley at Stourbridge Crematorium - 26th October
Don Smith of Franche (formerly of Wolverley) at Wolverley - 26th October
Geoffrey Michael Owers of Cookley at Stourbridge Crematorium - 27th October
Mary Cartwright at Stourbridge and St. John’s, Wolverley - 1st November
Gladys Oakley at Stourbridge and St. Peter’s, Cookley - 3rd November
Geoffrey Francis Bonner of Wolverley at Stourbridge Crematorium - 16th November

Letter From The Vicarage - November 2011

Dear Friends,

We are gradually trying to work closer with the Saint Mary’s team with whom we are eventually going to join. Fleur and I are going to their regular monthly staff meetings. I and a representative from both churches are now invited to attend their PCC meetings which give us a flavour of what happens in the team and what projects are in hand.

Members of the congregation are invited to join with Saint Mary’s on 1^st November for an All Saints service at 7.30pm; this will be preceded by fireworks & refreshments in the churchyard from 6.30pm onwards. There is also an invitation to a “This is Your Life” on 5^th November at St. Barnabas, Franche, when Owain, the Team Rector will be in the hot seat. It will be a good way of getting to know something of his background and again getting to know members of the team more closely.

Also, on the 20^th November, there is a Team Confirmation at Saint Mary’s at 10.30am when we are presenting some candidates from our two churches. All these follow the very successful service we had at Wolverley on Ascension Day, when a large number of the Kidderminster Team came and joined us.

There is also an LEP or Local Ecumenical Project with Saint Mary’s and Trinity Methodist Church in the process of being set up. As you know we have an LEP with St. Peter’s and the Methodists in Cookley. However, now that there is no Methodist church in Cookley, the members have gone to Broadwaters and come to us on the fourth Sunday of the month. There will be an opportunity for working and worshipping with the Methodists further in the larger team because of the LEP at Saint Mary’s and Trinity.

I am setting up a meeting with the wardens at Chaddesley, Stone and Saint George’s because these have already been through a similar experience with the retirement of John Cox.

Do try and get to some of these joint events. I’m sure there will be many more opportunities in the future. Also remember the joining of our parishes in your prayers.

Your friend,

Geoffrey

From the Parish Registers Christenings

Elizabeth Rushbrook-Staight at Cookley – 9^th October

Harry Jack Bingham at Wolverley – 23^rd October

Molly Alicia Harris at Wolverley – 29^th October

Weddings

Matthew Lee Barratt and Lisa Knight at Cookley - 23^rd September

Funerals

John Bayes at Cookley – 16^th September

Leonard Archer at Wolverley – 30^th September

Lucy Elizabeth Meakin at Cookley and Stourbridge Crematorium – 7^th October

Susan Mopore (Caunsall) at Stourbridge Crematorium – 14^th October

Letter From The Vicarage - October 2011

Dear Friends,

Recently I have been thinking about Worship in our two churches.  It is an activity in which we share week by week and it seems to me that it may just become a habit – part of our lives which we are used to.  This is not a bad thing.  In fact it is good that we develop regular and good habits as long as we don’t do them unthinkingly.

We are fortunate in the Anglican Church to have a very fine liturgy – a set form of service which has some variation within it and with which we can get to know and love and which nourishes us over a period of time.

The word liturgy literally means “the work of the people”.  In other words, it is something we do together and something which needs a bit of effort on our part.  We don’t come just to receive, but we come to give as well.  We should not let the words flow over us making us feel good, although perhaps there are times when we feel like that.  I find that at the end of a busy Sunday, it is rather nice to follow a set form of Evensong and let the liturgy speak for itself.

Rather we should come to church prepared to work.  We should really pray the prayers and think about them.  We should listen hard both to the readings and to the sermon and think about them, even if they are a bit difficult to follow.  In fact if they are bit difficult we need to work at them a bit harder. 

Remember that the readers and the preacher are themselves doing the work of God to the best of their ability.

Although some people grew up on a diet of 8.00am communions where they could go to church and leave immediately it was over so that they didn’t have to speak to anyone, nowadays we put a big emphasis on speaking to others, welcoming them (as for example in the peace) and socialising.  Finally we remember together the Last Supper and the gift of Christ himself on the cross.

Hard work isn’t it?  Church needs to be quiet and reflective sometimes, when we don’t have to do too much. 

We just need comforting.  At other times it needs to stretch us and challenge us. These days services are made more enjoyable and more accessible, but they should nevertheless broaden our horizons and feed us spiritually.

Yours sincerely,

Geoffrey

From the Parish Registers

          

Christenings

Jamie Roderick Jones at Cookley - 17th September

Weddings

George Lloyd and Donna Galvin at Wolverley - 16th August

Neil Stanley and Amy Pope at Wolverley - 26th August

Matthew Craggs and Sophie Wooldridge at Wolverley – 3rd September

Paul Harvey and Emma Palfrey at Cookley – 3rd September

Glyn Rees and Christine Evans at Wolverley – 17th September

Funerals

Pamela King at Stourbridge (Cookley) -  11th August

Brian Price at Stourbridge (Cookley) 8th September

Ivor Frank Spittle at Cookley – 14th September

Sidney Slater at Stourbridge (Wolverley) 15th September

Letter From The Vicarage - September 2011

Dear Friends,

With the return of the schools early this month everything seems to be getting back into gear again after the summer holidays.  We look forward to the first of our Harvest Services at Cookley, to be followed on the first Sunday of October by Wolverley Harvest.  It’s good at least on this occasion to show our appreciation for all of life’s excellent gifts and for an abundant amount of food.

We are all too aware that many people in the world suffer from starvation. Unfortunately this is not only because of drought or poor harvests but because of political agendas and by a failure to provide sufficient means of distribution.  We can do little to alter such circumstances but we can keep up pressure on the Governments of the world to put feeding their populations at the top of their programmes. 

Why not write a letter or send an email to your Member of Parliament expressing concern?

September 25^th is also ‘Back to Church Sunday’ at both churches.  We hope that many people will come to church or come back to Church and find the experience a worthwhile and a lively one and decide to reconnect with the local church from which they may have become separated.  This may happen as a result of different factors.  Perhaps people have moved, perhaps they just had a negative experience once, or perhaps they have just got out of the habit of going.  We are all subject to the changes that happen in life and sometimes we just need a bit of encouragement in the right direction.

With all good wishes

Yours sincerely,                                                                   

Geoffrey 

From the Parish Registers

          

Christenings 
Willem Luke Copson - 23^rd July at Cookley

Leandro Michael Curty-Pitt - 24^th July at Cookley
Shannon May Jones, Chanelle Charlie Jones and Tia Marie Jones  - 31^st July at Cookley
Chloe Elizabeth Weaver - 6^th August at Cookley
Connie Anais Valerie Hall - 7^th August at Wolverley 

Weddings 

Antony James Woods and Jamie Rodina May Harbron - 6^th August at Cookley 

Funerals 

Hilda Furnell - 19^th July at Cookley
Graham Gwilliam - 29^th (Cookley) at Stourbridge
Harriet Lucy Ross-Tuffey  - 2^nd August at Cookley
Pamela King - 11^th August (Cookley) – at Stourbridge