WEEKLY UPDATE

Easter 5, Sunday 10th May 2020

From the clergy...

Dear all

The celebrations organised to mark VE Day were all, of

course, scaled down, due to the current lockdown. Whatever

and however you marked it, it seems right to acknowledge

this momentous day here, 75 years on from Nazi Germany’s

unconditional surrender. I truly believe that the united front

together across Europe and other nations is what made that

victory possible. Our world would have looked very different

with any other outcome.

In our current worldwide ‘conflict’ – this time against an invisible virus - we are again recognising

that need to learn from one another. As we look to the examples of nations who seem to be

starting to win in this current crisis, my hope and prayer is that we will all work together across all

nations to share the best wisdom, the best practice and the best developments in knowledge,

vaccine development, testing and track and tracing schemes.

In the meantime, we continue to listen to advice and to follow what we all need to do to support

one another through different phases of this process. We will all be waiting to hear what the Prime

Minister’s announcements at 7pm today will be regarding the beginning of phase 2, although we

recognize we are a long way from any major lifting of lockdown. Our current online church

services and support will continue through the weeks ahead for some time to come. And we are

developing some new ways of us learning together online – details to emerge soon.

With prayers and blessings for the coming week.

Revd Helen and Revd Lyndon

Worship

You can view this week’s Easter 5 Sunday service in full here: https://youtu.be/12j0McEZdBo

GOSPEL: John 14.1-14

THE COLLECT FOR EASTER 5

Risen Christ,

your wounds declare your love for the world

and the wonder of your risen life;

give us compassion and courage

to risk ourselves for those we serve,

to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Churches Together: Prayer intentions for 10th May We pray for all those in our care homes and nursing homes in Broadstone and for those receiving

care in their own homes. We thank the Lord for the commitment and dedication of all the staff.

News

✣ Whilst church buildings remain locked with no public worship possible, clergy are now allowed

to enter the building to record services. We are sorry our building remains shut to all other people

and purposes. We are likely to vary recording services both in and out of the building. However, it

also means St John’s is now able to ring its bell to be part of the national clapping on Thursdays at

8pm. I shall be there, ringing our support for NHS staff! As I also rang it for VE Day to mark the

end of the 11am two-minute silence: bells ringing have always been part of a celebration of peace.

✣ DAILY HOPE As many people have no internet access at home, the Church of England has set

up the Daily Hope phone line, which you can call every day to hear reflections, hymns, prayers and

short services. The phone line is free, so do give it a go. Call 0800 804 804 4. This brings you to a

message from Justin Welby and numbers you can dial for different resources.

✣ The funeral of Tom Andrews is at Poole Crem on Wednesday 13th May at 10am. Please

remember his family and Sylvia in your prayers. We know that you will be thinking of them.

The Good News and Local Requests

✣ Food Bank collection for Poole Food Bank at St John’s. Thanks to Elaine and Gez, we are able to

offer a collection service for food products needed for the Poole Food Bank. They will keep us

informed about particular requests and products needed at this time. The drop off will be in the

parish hall carpark between 10am and 12 noon every Thursday. Obviously social distancing will be

maintained. A recent request suggested current needs included UHT milk, coffee, tinned meats and

tinned rice puddings. Why not add a couple of items to your shopping list in order to support?

✣ Sewing for Victory. A message from Julia in our congregation:

For several years I have belonged to a U3A sewing group. Six

of us have been sewing to help the NHS, making masks, hats,

hair bands, bags and in my case two sets of scrubs. A St. John's

member, Thelma supplied the material, other friends helped

with sewing thread and elastic. I am now converting a bed

valance into a third set. Can anyone supply a quarter inch wide elastic for masks please? I can collect. (NB See Julia’s phone

number in this week’s email we sent to you).

Quiz Answers from last Week – Here are the answers to last week’s!

1 16 O in a P ounces in a pound

2 9 P in the S planets in the solar system

3 2000 LU the S leagues under the sea (sorry …20,000)

4 7 S on a FPP sides on a fifty pence piece

5 4 H of the A Horsemen of the Apocalypse

6 10 C Commandments

7 13 L in a BD loaves in a baker’s dozen

8 180 MS at D maximum score at darts

9 168 H in a W hours in a week

10 76 T in the BP trombones in the big parade

11 12 M of a J members of a jury

12 54 C in a P of PC cards in a pack of playing cards

13 2468 WDWA who do we appreciate

14 57 HV Heinz varieties

15 1815 B of W Battle of Waterloo

16 66 B of the B Books of the Bible

17 7 B for SB Brides for Seven Brothers

18 12 D of C days of Christmas

19 212 DF is the BP of W degrees fahrenheit is the boiling point of water

20 1 F over the CN Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

21 5 GR gold rings

22 2 H are BTO hands are better then one

23 200 P for PG in M pounds for passing Go in Monopoly

24 10 GBH on the W green bottles hanging on a wall

25 1666 GF of L Great Fire of London

26 18 H on a GC holes on a golf course

27 39 B of the OT Books of the Old Testament

28 7 W OF THE W wonders of the world

29 23 P OF C IN THE HB pairs of chromosomes in the human body

30 1215 S of the MC Signing of the Magna Carta

How well do you know your nursery rhymes? This week’s quiz comes from Paul and Val.

1 Which girl lost her purse? 2 Who slept at his post? 3 Who smoked, drank & enjoyed musical entertainment? 4 Who detested fat? 5 Who rescued the cat? 6 Who cut off animals’ tails? 7 Who rode a white horse? 8 Where did a man find a crooked sixpence? 9 Which animal laughed? 10 Whose face was injured in the garden?

11 Who stayed at home? 12 Which animal gave a marvellous leap? 13 Who fractured his skull? 14 Who said he was good? 15 Who fed in the parlour? 16 Who cultivated a garden? 17 Whose father was a musician? 18 Who stole the baking? 19 Which animal went to school? 20 Who risked inflicting serious injury on an old man?

At Home Last Week

Just some of the activities

our children have been up

to! I gather the hand

painting wasn’t intentional..!

More garden photos, and also rings made by Ann in response to the National Flower Arrangers’

encouragement for its members to make rings of hope. Keep them coming!

And the curate has also been busy in his

garden!

Please send us a paragraph or a picture of

what you are doing at home, and give

others creative ideas to follow suit!

Art, Music and Culture

The National Theatre Live continues with Thursday 7pm productions available for free. Productions

are available for a week. https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/ Productions coming up include:

Barber Shop Chronicles – a never-before seen archive recording of Inua Ellams’ smash-hit play, about the places where banter is barbed and the truth is telling;

A Streetcar Named Desire – Gillian Anderson and Vanessa Kirby play Blanche and Stella in the

Young Vic production of Tennessee Williams’ American classic;

This House – James Graham’s timely, biting and funny portrait of British politics in the 1970s;

Coriolanus – Tom Hiddleston plays the title role in the Donmar Warehouse’s production of

Shakespeare’s searing political tragedy.

Sermon for Easter 5, given by Revd Lyndon Webb

As we gather on this Sunday, waiting to hear from the Prime Minister what the next steps through

this crisis will look like, perhaps it's also worth taking a moment to remember that isolation actually

has a long and fruitful place in Christian tradition.

On Friday, for example, as well as VE day, it was also the feast day of St Julian of Norwich, one of

my all time favourites. Mother Julian, as her name suggests, lived in Norwich about 650 years ago,

and like us she lived in isolation, choosing to live alone in a single cell with no company except her

cat. She chose to live this way, not to avoid the black death or the wars which England

experienced during her lifetime, but to dedicate herself to a life of prayer and contemplation.

When Mother Julian was about 30 years old, she became dangerously ill in her cell, to the extent

that she and the people nearby thought that she was dying. And as she lay there, sick to the point

of death, Christ appeared to her in a series of visions, or showings as she put it; and the focus of all

of these visions was the relationship between the huge love of God and the Passion of Christ. In

one vision, for example, she saw the face of Christ crowned with thorns, explaining his great love for the world.

In perhaps her most famous vision, however, Julian saw the whole of creation in all of its messy

brokenness being held in God's love, like a tiny hazelnut held in the palm of a huge hand. And as

she gazed on that little nut, held safely in God's great hand, Julian was overcome with an

understanding of God's compassion and mercy for the world, and had a deep sense that, as she

later put it, 'All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well'.

This sense of trust and wellbeing is much like Christ who, in today's Gospel reading, tells his

disciples, as they get closer to Jerusalem, not to let their hearts be troubled. And it's interesting,

isn't it, that Julian wasn't miraculously healed by her visions, although she did go on to recover.

Instead of simply healing her, the visions left Julian with a deep, deep sense of God's steady

presence alongside her, in the midst of her sufferings; she had a deep seated sense of Christ as the

one who walks alongside us in the midst of our difficulties, whilst inviting us to walk alongside him

as he travels towards what Julian understood as the motherly love of God.

And it's this same sense of God's faithful, solid presence in our lives which St. John captures in the

famous I am sayings throughout his Gospel. There are seven of these sayings in total, and all of

them show Jesus as place where unimaginable love of the Creator meets the humble, everyday

reality of our lives. Last week, for example, we heard Christ say, 'I am the good shepherd.'

In today's reading, meanwhile, Jesus says, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life.' And again it's

interesting that, like Julian's visions, Jesus doesn't promise his disciples that following the way will be

easy: in fact, in all four Gospels, he frequently tells his disciples that the way ahead includes some

rough terrain. In Holy Week, of course, we see just how rough that terrain can be when Christ

himself follows the way of the cross.

But instead what Jesus does promise is that he, our way, is faithful and constant, no matter how

rough the terrain around us becomes. He promises that, as long as we keep putting one foot in

front of the other, no matter what comes, he will lead us eventually to the joy of Easter and the

Emmaus Road. And so as we look ahead at the way which lies before us today, as a church, as a

nation, as a world, perhaps it is good to remember that Christ, our way, is faithful, no matter what

lies around the corner. And I wonder today, how far along the way do you see yourselves this

week. Does it feel to you like the way has lead you through lockdown to a time of rest, maybe, as

you spend time at home in the garden and the sunshine – perhaps it feels like you are being led beside still waters with more time than normal. Perhaps it feels more like you are walking through

a darker valley, a rough patch. I wonder, does it feel like the way ahead is becoming increasingly

clear, or does it still seem foggy and uncertain? Perhaps you feel very keenly that you are walking

alone at the moment, with nothing but the faithful way for company beneath your feet; or perhaps

you are feeling well connected with friends and family by phone, and internet, and letter.

Wherever you see yourselves at the moment along the way, at the heart of today's Gospel I think

there is the message that it is ok to be where you are. Just keep going. Keep following the way of

compassion and trust; keep sharing what you have with others you meet along the way; keep asking

for help from those you meet. And together, one step at a time, Christ promises us that we will

eventually join mother Julian in that place where, 'All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all

manner of things shall be well.'

Amen.

Contacts

Vicar

Revd Helen Bailey 01202 691 484

revdhelenbailey@gmail.com

Assistant Curate

Revd Lyndon Webb 07872 651 981

revlyndonwebb@gmail.com

Parish Office 01202 697 641

office@stjohnschurchbroadstone.org.uk