The Benefice of St. Bartholomew

tea@thechurch, St John's Church, Charlton resumes on 10th June 2013…..

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Written by Tony Gowers

After another short break, tea@thechuch at St John's Church, Charlton, will be resuming its highly-successful gatherings on Monday 10th June 2013.

You are welcome anytime between 2.00 pm and 4.00 pm to drop in for a chat, along with tea, coffee and homemade cakes.

Also available are the following:

• A play area for toddlers and a craft table for older children
• A book exchange (bring along a book you've read and swop it for one you haven't)
• A small library of Christian books for all ages to borrow

All ages will be sure of a warm welcome, so please do come along and join us.

East Knoyle Church Fete - 23rd June 2013

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Written by Tony Gowers

EAST KNOYLE CHURCH FETE

at Knoyle Place on

Sunday 23rd June 2013

by kind permission of Mr & Mrs de la Morinière

Opens at 1.00pm - Entrance Free

Light Lunches & Teas - BBQ - Bric-a-Brac - Fabrics
Hats and Accessories - Children's Activities - Coconut Shy - Lucky Dip
Plants and Produce - Preserves - Bottles - Books - Beer & Wine
Dog Show - Raffle
and much more for all the family.

Competitions include:
Photographic Competition – A photo on the subject of "My Village",
Men's Cake Baking Competition (recipe in Village shop)

There will also be a Jazzercise Demonstration and the East Knoyle Community Choir

Please do come along and join the fun!

Priesting of Rev. Alice Goodall - 29th June 2013

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Written by Rev. Steve Morgan

Rev Alice is becoming a priest !

 At Salisbury Cathedral on 29th June 2013 at 5.30 pm

 This means that Alice will be licensed to perform weddings and to take a full communion service, and marks the end of he formal training.

Her first communion service will be a Benefice Communion on 30th June 2013 at 10.30 am at Semley Church, followed by a celebration with drinks and snacks in the church.

Please do come along to either service to celebrate and to support Rev. Alice.

Transport is available on request - speak to Alice (tel: 828827) or Hannah (tel: 830174).

Family Barn Dance and BBQ, Donhead St Andrew - 13th July 2013

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Written by Tony Gowers

For more information about the St Andrew's Church Development Appeal, visit the Appeal's web site: http://www.sacda.co.uk/

From the Rector - June 2013

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Written by Rev. Steve Morgan

We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta

I went scuba diving for the first time last week. Not, sadly, in the Caribbean, but in a swimming pool in Southampton. I was told before I went that the thing I would remember most would be counting my toes. A bit cryptic, but off I went. Once the safety briefing was over we got into the water. We looked quite intrepid in all our gear – just like James Bond. Our instructor told us to put our heads in the water and count our toes. I did as I was told and there they were – all ten of them. I counted them again and realized as I was doing so that I was breathing at the same time – underwater! Later on we started swimming about and playing catch with toy sharks 3 metres down. The freedom of being in an environment that would normally be impossible was just something else. I can now see what all the fuss is about. I have never flown a plane before, but I imagine it must be the same sort of feeling; up there with the birds spinning about and doing stuff that you shouldn't be able to do.

Humanity has dreamt of flying since the earliest of times. The most famous story of course is that of Daedalus and Icarus from Greek mythology. Daedalus built the labyrinth on Crete that King Minos kept his Minotaur in. To preserve the secrets of the labyrinth, Minos kept Daedalus and his son Icarus prisoner. But Daedalus hatched an escape plan - he and Icarus would fly away on wings made out of feathers and wax.

As they were about to take off, Daedalus warned his son to be careful and not to fly too high as the heat of the sun would melt the wax on his wings if he did. They they set off for freedom. At first everything went well, but after a while Icarus got tired of flying in a straight line, so he went higher and higher. Suddenly he realized that his wings were melting. He tried to go back down again, but it was too late. His wings came apart, and he fell down into the ocean. Freedom has its dangers of course, but I would imagine most of us would rather be free to face them than be cooped up in a prison in comparative safety.

There are two sides to freedom: there is freedom from restraint and freedom to flourish. In this country we have freedom to do just about anything we want, so we certainly have freedom from restraint, but not everyone has the opportunity or the resources to exercise their freedom. When we use the word 'freedom' I think most of us mean more than just a lack of chain. We want the chance to fly, not just the right to buy tickets we can't afford. True freedom is when everyone has the chance to fulfill their potential, not just those who, for one reason or another, can compete best in the market place.

My diving experience only cost me £16 which is amazing value, although picking up a hitchhiker yesterday got me thinking about money. He had just been to the food bank and was very grateful for the food he had been given – he had about £16 worth in his bags. I think he would rather have had £16 of his own to spend in the supermarket.

To be truly free and to flourish in our modern world, you are likely to need a combination of education, confidence and money. There are many in our country who have the freedom to sit alone in their houses doing nothing - because they don't have the resources or the confidence to do anything else. The church has always sought out these folk and tried to give them hope. We are not really interested in whether their predicament is their own fault or not; what matters is that they are in need. Mind you, even though it is right to help people even if they don't deserve it, it can be a difficult pill to swallow. Why should we help people who don't want to be helped and who are in a bad situation due to their own actions?

Jesus had a habit of upsetting the order of things. He helped folk who didn't deserve it; ate with people who were sinful and made friends with those others despised. He told a parable about workers in a vineyard to explain why he did this.

A vineyard owner employed a group of workers for the usual daily rate of one denarius. A bit later in the day the owner saw some people standing in the marketplace and told them that if they went to work in his vineyard he would pay them fairly. At midday he found another group of people he asked them to work for him. Towards the end of the day he saw a group of people just standing around. He asked them, "Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?" They answered, "Because no one has hired us." The landowner asked them to work for him, even though there was only one hour left in the working day. At the end of the day the workers were gathered together to receive their wages. Those who had worked all day were paid 1 denarius. But the owner went on to pay everyone else the same – even those who had only worked an hour. Those who had worked all day complained that they had been treated unfairly, but the landowner said he had given them exactly what they had expected – a fair wage for the day. He wasn't being unfair to them – simply generous with the others.

This principle runs counter to much of the way our world works, but it is at the heart of the Christian faith and it is something we try to model in our churches. For example, when we set the price for our summer youth camps, we always offer them at well below cost price. This of course means that folk who can afford to pay more benefit as well as those who can't, but surely this is better than the alternative which might mean that people have to miss out because they can't afford it. Of course this means that some people get something for nothing, but given that we can never be perfect, I would much rather that the church was criticised for being over generous rather than the other way around. This is not the way of the world of course, but then again the world tends to ignore quite a lot of people for one reason or another. We have to be prudent, but I think it is always best to err on the side of generosity.

Steve

Come Sailing! - Benefice Sailing Trip, 19th to 22 September 2013

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Written by Rev. Steve Morgan

The 2012 sailing trip was a real success; 14 people from across the Benefice and the age range enjoyed a challenging time of fun, fellowship and sailing. The dates for 2013 are from the evening of 19th September to the afternoon of 22nd September, and the cost will be £190 each. We hope to repeat our epic crossing to France. This is open to anyone over the age of 16 and under 98, although the upper age limit is negotiable! No previous sailing experience is necessary, and there will certainly be something to learn for an experienced hand. The boat - the 62 ft ketch 'Morning Star' - will be crewed entirely by us!

If you are interested, please contact Steve on 01747 830174.

If you want to know more know more about the boat, visit the www.morningstar.org.uk.