Trinity 7 14th July 2013

In the parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus teaches us to identify and serve people’s needs where they are, to make a difference to them and to keep on the case.

The Samaritan, unlike the priest and Levite, had his eyes on the world around him and the call of that beaten up man. The priest and Levite were strict legalists. Like that community police man who let a boy drown because he had not done health and safety training they went by their ritual law book which said you’d be made unclean if you touched a corpse. They left the man for dead.

The Samaritan, a religious outsider, obeyed a higher law than religion, the law of God and of common humanity. He met the man’s needs. He made a difference, He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

Furthermore the hero of the tale kept on his case. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.”

The parable speaks about our mission calling as followers of Jesus.

We are called to identify people’s needs and go serve them. Serve them not on our terms but theirs. Serve them without getting in the way of what’s best for them. Serve them also with a view to their ongoing welfare.

We have a big vision as a church – God’s glory and the salvation of the world – but we have a tight focus expressed in our Mission Action Plan or MAP as: to grow in faith, love and numbers.

What must I do to inherit eternal life? …You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.

In today’s Gospel Jesus gives us the big vision and illustrates it in a focussed example. This morning we are reminded of St Giles’ aspiration to serve that same vision with its own particular focus. Like the Good Samaritan we are keeping on the case.

In particular we are set on using the Martindale to serve our new MAP in engaging villagers with St Giles. Already it’s a hub of parish life but we want to make it more of a Christian focus. From September we’ll be having a monthly last Sunday service at 5 o’clock starting 29^th September. Another initiative builds on the beautiful view we've now got in the main hall. We’re holding a quiet day there on 28^th September which will be attended both by trainee diocesan readers and by any church members or parishioners who wish to join in.

So far as social engagement goes the PCC is working initially through the P&P deliverers to help St Giles engage more fully with isolated people in our community, especially those who would appreciate occasional visits from the Church.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus taught us to identify and serve people’s needs where they are, to make a difference to them and to keep on the case. When it comes to the action we’re planning in the coming months for outreach we can be inspired by the example of the Good Samaritan to see from God what’s needed and to be generous in providing for it with an ongoing commitment.

The Lord bless us through this eucharist as we express our love for him! The Lord guide us, individually in the coming week and corporately in the coming months, as we seek better expression of love for him and for our neighbours faithful to the calling he has for us as his Church.

Advent 1 Growing in love 2nd December 2012

1 Thessalonians 3.12 May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you.

That’s Paul’s prayer reaching down through the ages and it would be mine and the PCC’s for St Giles.

As you can read in the Mission Action Plan head statement in the news sheet: St Giles Church has a mission to grow in faith, love and numbers.

We want to grow in faith towards God, in the expression of love to the world and to grow the numbers in Christian fellowship here at St Giles.

Last week we looked at action planned to build faith such as tonight’s healing service and the meditation session later on.

What action has the PCC got planned, or raised up, to help us grow in love in the months ahead?

If you look on the porch flow chart the PCC has identified various opportunities for action. These include the social aspect of the Martindale refurbishment in its involving people and groups that use it, embryonic plans for action that comes alongside the youth and better outreach towards the housebound and elderly.

May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all.

Those fifteen of us who walked to the coast, or almost to the coast, for the Martindale refurbishment raised almost £2,500 with gift aid. We  raised something equally significant in the day we spent with one another. This for me meant discovery of a parishioner, or near parishioner, who knew the interior of Guyana as well as I. We’ve met since to have a drink which linked in with a dining commitment with discussion of ways the church and others can help build village life.

If I’m typical the things we’re doing because of the Martindale refurbishment are taking us out of the box, out of our individual boxes, into new involvements and sharing as a community.

The 6^th November youth meeting mentioned on the MAP was attended by St Giles members with a dozen young people and supporting adults. It looked at future provision for youth. By putting this involvement under love and not numbers the PCC are saying let’s serve our young people before we evangelise them though the two are inseparable.

This brings us to broader thinking.

A church fellowship does community ministry through the individuals in it, as well as through what the church organises. A lot of us in Church aren’t involved in the listed activities on the PCC plan to grow love: Priest and lay pastoral visiting, First Steps, Thursday coffee, Westall House visiting, monthly village lunch, FOHKC events, Serendipity concerts, churchyard working parties, Harvest lunch/supper, FSW

Of course we want more of us involved in our mission through such things, more citizens and less consumers so to speak. Receiving the sermon and the sacraments is central to our Christianity but only when the body turns food into action do we see God’s kingdom built up.

Our individual growth and exercise of love has far wider remit than involvement in church activities. Charity begins at home. It’s also the case that people in our congregation are making a difference in the world  hardly comparable to the difference St Giles members make through running the weekly toddler group or monthly village lunch.

It’s not either/or but both/and. The Christian good news is given to permeate homes, villages and work places as well as education, healthcare, politics, environmental thinking and so on.  No one in Church this morning should feel guilty they’re not involved, save for prayer back up, in St Giles projects, unless the Spirit prompts them so.

What matters is each of us doing our best to bring love into realms of individual obligation such as our marriage and parenting, family and work commitments with an eye to the church community’s plans, hence today’s reminder. The PCC are doing their job in gently setting our priorities as a Church and helping more people to own them. We hope that as we share, like today, there’ll be people here realising that they too could join what is a rotating body and be a church leader such as James and Jan, David or Rhoda, Chris and so on. We’ve a pressing need to form younger Christians to lead the transformational ministries we have here.

May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you.

Growth in love may impact homes and communities but it starts in the heart as my concluding story illustrates.  A young man walked to church for years through a group of homeless people in a London churchyard. He was given a gift of love, a sort of ‘prayer burden’ for them and started to pray for them in church. He put it eventually to his church that they might run an occasional lunch and there was consensus to do so. Later on the church advertised for helpers in the local paper and had 300 phone calls offering help. This refreshed the mission partnership between the church and the community engaging with the needs of street people. It also helped church growth.

Your kingdom come, your will be done is the aspiration at the heart of Advent and of our Mission Action Plan for St Giles to grow in faith, love and numbers. It needs to be an aspiration that wells from deep in our hearts, as we live more and more aware of the love that surrounds us and cares for all that is, simply because it is!

May God enfold us in that love through this eucharist making us increase and abound in love for one another and for all through the almighty power that reaches into our hearts in this sacrament. Amen.

Vision day sermon by the Rector Sunday 8th July 2012

This morning’s eucharist extends to include our vision day and so this sermon will have a ‘state of the church’ feel.

In today’s Old Testament reading we heard how Israel united around David as King. This contrasts with St Mark’s account of the controversy that surrounded and still surrounds the Son of David, Jesus Christ.

Where did this man get all this? They say. Is not this the carpenter?

Who is this Jesus? remains the question central to the church’s vision and mission. Is this person what the creed says he is - God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God - or is he not?

Belief in the divinity of Christ is as heavily eroded in Horsted Keynes as in any part of our post-Christian society. I say this on the basis of a good number of conversations with locals. The historic divisions of Christianity between Catholic, Evangelical and Liberal shrink before this greater division.

Is Jesus the Son of God or is he not? We believe he is. How do we best live and act to as to intrigue people about Jesus so they see in him the God who made them and loves them? How can St Giles Church better help our village believe in God Father, Son and Holy Spirit? That’s going to be the biggest question for St Giles Church in any generation - being true to what and who we’re founded for.

As a small community within a small community we feel the rub of the words said about Jesus in today’s Gospel: ‘prophets are not without honour, except in their home town’. Villagers see us and they also see through us. It’s hard to do evangelism in a ‘knocking on doors’ form in a village. We ‘just’ need to get ourselves to be more intriguing Christians. I say ‘just’ – in Guyana we have a frustrating phrase people use when asked to do something which is ‘just now’. It can mean anything from a minute to a month! Becoming an intriguing Christian community is a Guyanese ‘just now’ business. It’s not a ‘fast food’ process but ‘slow cooking’ as we open ourselves to scripture, sacrament and the disciplines of prayer and spiritual direction.

I’ve got great expectations of today in that God is with us and we must expect great things of him - but I can’t see any short cut to the call we each of us have to immerse ourselves more fully in the Holy Spirit through renewed discipleship. We can’t be disciples without discipline.

The three headings of our current Mission Action Plan appeal to such wholeheartedness.  Our MAP is about perceived needs and serving them in an ongoing way.

Within the big vision we share as a church – God’s glory and the salvation of the world – we have a focus: renewing our worship, engaging with youth and families and enhancing our buildings.

Three years on how are we delivering on these and what are the areas of need some of us might supply as the Lord leads them?

First renewing worship.  Later on we want more of your wisdom. On the Looking Forward programme card we listed some achievements like the lay involvement in prayer ministry for individuals now offered after the monthly all age eucharist. This involved 10 people in training with Acorn Christian foundation. Then our monthly St Giles night has been largely concerned to provide a spiritual focus. You can be sure of that on Tuesday when we go Caribbean at the Rectory with the Bishop of Guyana!  The card mentions the extra midweek eucharists. Quite often we get into double figures now.

Where are there openings to serve? We need another Sacristan to work with Colin and Lisa. Are there musicians keen to form an occasional band? Are there singers keen to join an occasional adult choir? Are there church members ready to share about how their faith relates to their life and work? A number of our members missing on Sunday due to work and family pressures gain spiritual nourishment in London Churches or elsewhere. Renewing worship is about refreshing our spiritual lives and we all gain from those ready to share how they do it, as Simon Witheridge shared earlier in the year. Renewing the prayerfulness of those who worship comes before changing service formats important as they are.

Our second mission action priority has been to engage with youth and families. Later on we want your wisdom on more helpful action. On the card we mention how Sunday Club continues apace thanks to Anne, Chris, Helen, Val and helpers. The monthly Junior Choir is at a turning point now Laura has stepped down.  Liaison with the school is close thanks to Marion and both the governors and school assembly teams. I’m sure there is potential for mission unrealised in our Church School and some of you will have ideas on this. First Steps builds links with young families thanks to the team led by Chris who’s also involved in recovering the village youth club provision.

How can we better engage with youth and families? I suggest we all pray harder about this as so many pressures are against us. There’s talk of a family friendly happening after the monthly all age eucharist. Filling in for Laura may be as simple as this. Katie, Chris and parents could lead if someone volunteered to accompany choir on the piano for half an hour on Monday’s at 6pm. There must be a good few who play the piano in Church this morning. The next Choir is on St Giles Festival on 9^th September.

Our third mission action priority has been to enhance buildings for better witness.

Over the last three years we’ve seen a lot of work on church primarily the refurbishment of the sacristy and vestry areas, the stabilising of the spire and introduction of glazed doors as well as the new high altar kneeler. The porch is now more of a welcoming statement. Friends of Horsted Keynes Church have formed up, a great lift to us all at St Giles. A lot of work has gone into agreeing the best site for a church toilet and we are in conversation with individuals whose generosity may help to move paper plans into a process of consultation and delivery but we’re talking hundreds of thousands. Such building plans put a sharp perspective on our finances and the failure to pay our parish share in full. The answer to this lies in church growth -  getting more folk coming to Church - for which this day might be an inspiration. Meanwhile David and the finance team are working on a five year finance plan that will be affected by next month’s five yearly inspection of Church.

The second prong of the enhancing of buildings for better use concerning the Martindale has no such red or amber light but a green one. I can announce exceedingly good news - a grant of £50,000 towards enlarging and upgrading the kitchen, converting the toilet by the main entrance into a disabled WC and forming a large window in the north wall of the main hall.  This comes from the Verity Waterlow Trust set up from the endowment of a lady at Westall House who left her estate to benefit the elderly in Horsted Keynes and Forest Row.  The grant comes conditional on our funding the additional cost of the works. David Jenkins has drawn up plans and obtained five quotations, the lowest of which is approx £70,000 including a contingency sum.  Mr Crowson has put his name down for £10,000 of the outstanding sum of £20,000 required.  The PCC has acted in faith to underwrite the remaining £10,000 towards the refurbishment so that the work can proceed in the autumn. We are seeking funding from villagers as well as applying to trusts outside the parish sympathetic to the Martindale’s service of the community. You can see the plans today and we would welcome donations to bridge the funding gap of £10,000.

I hope what I’ve shared is both encouraging and challenging. God in Christ is at work among us answering our prayers and challenging us to deeper discipleship. In some ways St Giles stands distinctive, over against the community, in proclaiming Jesus Christ as Unique Son of God and Saviour. In other ways we stand alongside the village favoured by much good will, as in the Martindale refurbishment.  There is work to do, nevertheless, and we want all aboard on this progressing work.