Christ-Light At St John's

"God so loved the world that he gave his only son ...", which is why many churches celebrate the run-up to Christmas by holding services where we give Christingles, Christ-lights, to children (and adults, often), and take up a special collection to give to the Children's Society for their work helping children facing poverty, abuse and neglect - taking the light of Jesus into dark places.

I was thoroughly chuffed on Sunday when we got a congregation of 94 at the St John's Christingle service, pretty much all of whom seemed to be joining in with readings, music and prayers as we worshipped Jesus, the light of the world, together. It was really good to have a contingent there from the uniformed groups, not just joining us but helping out in all sorts of ways too. They really added to the occasion.

Obviously I was chuffed about that worship, but I was also pleased because St John's has been through a rough time over the last year or so, and the good turnout - the second highest Christingle congregation of the past ten years - is a sign that we may be coming out of it.

Last night's carol service, a very different style of service, also had a good turnout (although I don't have last year's figures for comparison, I suspect we were up here as well) and benefited from a choir which included a number of guests from groups we have worked with over the past year or two, including St Peter's of course.

Similarly, Sunday morning congregations over the Autumn have held steady in the mid-forties - not enough for the long term survival of St John's as a living church, it's true, but still a sign of recovery and consolidation. It is also well above the congregations back in the 2008/9 interregnum. Although I should add that the current vacancy  - where we have lost our priest in charge, Jeremy, but are still part of the CTM parish led by Mike as Rector - is a very different proposition from the interregnum after Philip left.

As the PMC process continues, and as we look for a new priest to join the parish team with particular responsibility for enabling transformation at St John's, it is, I believe, vital that St John's continues to build and prepare, ready to join in whatever God is up to here in this community of Lower Caversham.

Meanwhile, as the Christmas season continues, may you experience the light of Jesus in your own life, and may you continually find ways to reflect it into the lives of those around you.

Light In The Darkness

Christmas gets knocked sometimes for having its roots in a pagan festival. That is really to miss the point though. The reason for the pagan festival was the winter solstice: the shortest day has passed, the longest nights are behind us. On December 25th this is not obvious, and everyone knows that the coldest weather is ahead, nevertheless from then on the nights get shorter and the days get longer.

This is the metaphor which Christianity takes over - not the paganism, but the hope. The meaning of Jesus' birth, at whatever season it actually occurred, is that God is dealing with the mess which is our world. It is going to take time and there are still hard times to come, but the light is brightening and the darkness is pulling back.

Two thousand years ago the superpower of the day dealt with its enemies by crucifying them: a long and agonising death displayed along the main roads, to discourage the others. As the 21st Century begins we have Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib - pick your own superpower abuse - but now it is hidden and shameful. Things really have changed.

Today, here in Caversham, it's a bright sunny day; still cold, still windy, still wet - not Spring by any means - but a sign that Spring is on its way. There is life, there is hope, every breath is a gift from God. And when it gets dark again, we can always light a candle; not just for ourselves but to place in a window so that others may see a light in their darkness.

Two thousand years on and there's still so much needs doing ... someone has to make a difference, why not us?

(Click the link for YouTube to see the lyrics)

Post-Christmas Ramble

Every year since I started blogging I have done some sort of Christmas post, usually something to do with "the real meaning of Christmas". This year I'm a fortnight into January, and my most recent post is still from the 10th December!

It seems to me to have been a very dark midwinter. Extended-family-wise situations have varied between stressful and downright frightening; healthwise CFS has been exhausting; UK-politics-wise has seen a barely veiled policy of favouring the rich and taxing the poor; US-politics-wise we have "meet the new boss, same as the old boss" - tax cuts for the wealthy and persecution for the whistle-blowers (not to mention the division in that deeply divided, and extremely violent, country resulting in yet another shooting atrocity); in Cote d'Ivoire there's another African 'strong-man' who won't relinquish power, financed, in this case, by the multi-national chocolate manufacturers Nestle, Mars/M&Ms and Hershey (although not Cadbury, yet); there are major floods in Brazil and Australia; and clearing up from last year's earthquake in Haiti doesn't seem to be happening.

Maybe, for me, this year's "real meaning of Christmas" is a line from the opening section of John's Gospel: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." Please?