Vicar's Letter for October	Archive
Revd Jayne Shepherd writes:- Autumn seems to have come upon us early this year so that it seems appropriate that we shall be holding our Harvest Thanksgiving a week earlier than we are used to, in order to combine it with Back To Church Sunday. There is no set date for the celebration of Harvest here, although in the United States and Canada of course there is a national holiday and the celebration is known as ‘Thanksgiving’. One way of choosing the date is to choose the nearest Sunday to the Autumnal equinox which this year is on 22nd September. Another way is to choose the Sunday nearest the ‘Harvest Moon’ or full moon. Around this time of year in England since pagan times we have given thanks for successful harvests and all of the most significant Christian festivals borrow something from our pagan ancestry. This reminds me of the tradition of well dressing in Derbyshire – a tradition which goes back to the days before Christianity spread across England, but which was considered by the early Christians to be water worship. They tried to put an end to the practice, but the tradition lived on and Tissington was the first village to re-introduce well dressing in 1349, after the village managed to escape a terrible outbreak of the Black Death that swept through the country. Now many of the well dressings have a Christian theme and are associated with saints’ days during the spring and summer. It is interesting that the tradition of having a Harvest Festival in church is much more recent than many people think. In 1843 the Revd Robert Hawker invited parishioners to a special service of thanksgiving for harvest at his church in Morwenstow in Cornwall. Victorian hymns such as we shall sing at our Festival, ‘We Plough the fields and scatter’ and ‘Come ye thankful people come’ helped to popularise his idea of a Harvest Festival and spread the annual custom of decorating churches with home grown produce for the Service. This season is of course also an appropriate time for us to consider our stewardship of God’s Creation. Churches Together in Britain and Ireland has made the following recommendation: "We recommend that the period from 1 September to 4 October be dedicated to prayer for the protection of Creation and the promotion of sustainable lifestyles that reverse our contribution to climate change." 3rd European Ecumenical Assembly, Sibiu, Romania, 2007 With this in mind our All Age Worship on the first Sunday in October will have as its focus both thanksgiving for the world around us and also, along with repentance, a renewed commitment to the protection of the world around us. Now a special invitation.... You are all invited to a series of five meetings beginning on 15th October when we shall follow a course called ‘Exploring the Void’ based on the popular film ‘Touching the Void’. The film tells the true life story of two climbers’ fight for survival when disaster strikes during an expedition in the Andes. Using the film as a starting point for discussion the course relates themes and issues raised by this gripping story to our own journey through life: Travelling companions; Plateaux and summits; Breaking free; Decision making; Out of the void. Please sign the list in church or call me if you are interested – if numbers are large we shall consider running it at two different times at different venues so don’t hesitate to express your interest! Confirmation classes for adults begin in the first week of October; plans are in hand for younger folk – still time to express your interest to me of whatever age you are! Also, for our young teens we are holding Craft evenings at 7.30 on Sundays - 27th September, 25th October and 22nd November. Please tell your friends and neighbours. Finally, don’t forget the opportunity for 7-11 year olds to come along with a small group from St Cross to Chester Cathedral for a day of workshops and activities. Cost is just Ł5 per child. I am sure like me you are all very much looking forward to Julie Withers’ Licensing as Reader at the Cathedral on 17th October. Our 10 o’clock service on 18th will be a special celebration of Julie’s Ministry and will be followed by a Bring and Share Lunch; do come along and be part of this Church Family occasion. During the Autumn we are intending to purchase a new set of hymn books. We think that this gives us an ideal opportunity for each of the hymn books to be dedicated in memory of one of our loved ones. We invite you to have a label enclosed, with a words edition, in loving remembrance of a named person. We ask for a Ł5 donation towards each book so dedicated. A leaflet will be available in church giving more information or please contact me and I shall deliver or post one out to you. And now as I draw to a close a look back and a look forward. Thank you to all involved in organising the wonderful Concert to celebrate the 150 years of St Cross Church and Parish. Audley Male Voice Choir were wonderful and produced a varied programme. Ian Riddle showed us the full versatility of our magnificent organ and there were beautiful solos from Pam Clarke. The celebration weekend continued with our guest preacher on Sunday who introduced us to GAP – Growth Action Planning. The Parochial Church Council are having an Awayday on this on 7th November; this is not exclusive to the PCC as we have a few additional places, so do let me know if you would like to come along and be a part of this new Diocesan initiative and help to determine how it will be worked out in this parish. I believe we are in for an exciting Autumn! Jayne

Vicar's Letter for October

Archive

Revd Jayne Shepherd writes:-

Autumn seems to have come upon us early this year so that it seems appropriate that we shall be holding our Harvest Thanksgiving a week earlier than we are used to, in order to combine it with Back To Church Sunday. There is no set date for the celebration of Harvest here, although in the United States and Canada of course there is a national holiday and the celebration is known as ‘Thanksgiving’. One way of choosing the date is to choose the nearest Sunday to the Autumnal equinox which this year is on 22nd September. Another way is to choose the Sunday nearest the ‘Harvest Moon’ or full moon.

Around this time of year in England since pagan times we have given thanks for successful harvests and all of the most significant Christian festivals borrow something from our pagan ancestry. This reminds me of the tradition of well dressing in Derbyshire – a tradition which goes back to the days before Christianity spread across England, but which was considered by the early Christians to be water worship. They tried to put an end to the practice, but the tradition lived on and Tissington was the first village to re-introduce well dressing in 1349, after the village managed to escape a terrible outbreak of the Black Death that swept through the country. Now many of the well dressings have a Christian theme and are associated with saints’ days during the spring and summer.

It is interesting that the tradition of having a Harvest Festival in church is much more recent than many people think. In 1843 the Revd Robert Hawker invited parishioners to a special service of thanksgiving for harvest at his church in Morwenstow in Cornwall. Victorian hymns such as we shall sing at our Festival, ‘We Plough the fields and scatter’ and ‘Come ye thankful people come’ helped to popularise his idea of a Harvest Festival and spread the annual custom of decorating churches with home grown produce for the Service.

This season is of course also an appropriate time for us to consider our stewardship of God’s Creation. Churches Together in Britain and Ireland has made the following recommendation:
"We recommend that the period from 1 September to 4 October be dedicated to prayer for the protection of Creation and the promotion of sustainable lifestyles that reverse our contribution to climate change."
3rd European Ecumenical Assembly, Sibiu, Romania, 2007
With this in mind our All Age Worship on the first Sunday in October will have as its focus both thanksgiving for the world around us and also, along with repentance, a renewed commitment to the protection of the world around us.

Now a special invitation.... You are all invited to a series of five meetings beginning on 15th October when we shall follow a course called ‘Exploring the Void’ based on the popular film ‘Touching the Void’. The film tells the true life story of two climbers’ fight for survival when disaster strikes during an expedition in the Andes. Using the film as a starting point for discussion the course relates themes and issues raised by this gripping story to our own journey through life: Travelling companions; Plateaux and summits; Breaking free; Decision making; Out of the void. Please sign the list in church or call me if you are interested – if numbers are large we shall consider running it at two different times at different venues so don’t hesitate to express your interest!

Confirmation classes for adults begin in the first week of October; plans are in hand for younger folk – still time to express your interest to me of whatever age you are! Also, for our young teens we are holding Craft evenings at 7.30 on Sundays - 27th September, 25th October and 22nd November. Please tell your friends and neighbours. Finally, don’t forget the opportunity for 7-11 year olds to come along with a small group from St Cross to Chester Cathedral for a day of workshops and activities. Cost is just Ł5 per child.

I am sure like me you are all very much looking forward to Julie Withers’ Licensing as Reader at the Cathedral on 17th October. Our 10 o’clock service on 18th will be a special celebration of Julie’s Ministry and will be followed by a Bring and Share Lunch; do come along and be part of this Church Family occasion.

During the Autumn we are intending to purchase a new set of hymn books. We think that this gives us an ideal opportunity for each of the hymn books to be dedicated in memory of one of our loved ones. We invite you to have a label enclosed, with a words edition, in loving remembrance of a named person. We ask for a Ł5 donation towards each book so dedicated. A leaflet will be available in church giving more information or please contact me and I shall deliver or post one out to you.

And now as I draw to a close a look back and a look forward. Thank you to all involved in organising the wonderful Concert to celebrate the 150 years of St Cross Church and Parish. Audley Male Voice Choir were wonderful and produced a varied programme. Ian Riddle showed us the full versatility of our magnificent organ and there were beautiful solos from Pam Clarke.

The celebration weekend continued with our guest preacher on Sunday who introduced us to GAP – Growth Action Planning. The Parochial Church Council are having an Awayday on this on 7th November; this is not exclusive to the PCC as we have a few additional places, so do let me know if you would like to come along and be a part of this new Diocesan initiative and help to determine how it will be worked out in this parish.

I believe we are in for an exciting Autumn!

Jayne