Being Silly
Dear friends,
It has been the last week of term for Burchetts Green Infant School and also our youngest daughter's last week at nursery so there has been a lot of celebrations and endings going on. But amidst it all I have been reminded of how we can often become far too serious about things.
When we gather on a Sunday morning for our services, what are we expecting? Are we expecting a serious, distant God? Or are we expecting a goofy, in-your-face God? I suspect that whichever we expect, what we get is probably somewhere in between the two. Yes there are absolutely times to be serious in church. Sometimes when we are gathering for worship before God we should be serious and being silly would be completely inappropriate. But equally there are times when we should feel released to be silly and a bit less formal!
For too long the church has focussed on the formality of worship and neglected the fun - even in high church services (those who use all the robes, many candles and perhaps even incense) it is still possible to have fun while we are worshipping! In fact a lot of the time we are worshipping we should be having fun! I remember not long after I was ordained I said to someone in the congregation at the time that I think church should be fun. After looking at me a little sideways we journeyed for the next two years with some serious and some silly times! Church should be fun! But not in the sense of shallow and vacuous fun. We shouldn't be going to church expecting a time of comedic entertainment for our worship. We should go expecting to meet God. And I firmly believe God has a sense of humour. If God doesn't have a sense of humour then why do we?!
We must respect and honour those times in church when we need to be serious and it is right to behave with a little more dignity, respect and being a bit more reserved. But if that is all we do then we miss out on the fulness of life which Jesus promises and, frankly, church becomes a boring place to be! We must learn, together, to recognise the times when we must be serious and the times when we must not be serious. If we can do that in our work and home lives, we can do it in our faith and in our worship. Let's all try and be a little silly this week and have some fun with the God who enjoys having a laugh with us as much as listening to our serious requests. And as always, keep the faith.
Sunday 23rd July
9:00am - Come to the Table @ St. James-the-Less, Stubbings (join us from 8:45am for coffee and biscuits - a more informal - and hopefully fun - service!)
10:30am - Family and Friends Communion @ St. Mary the Virgin Hurley (our more informal - and hopefully fun - service!)
August Services
During August we have some different services in our churches. Do please join us as we celebrate the life of our parish in slightly different ways:
6th August - 10am @ St. John the Evangelist, Littlewick Green
Parish Communion - a gathering of everyone in our parish to share in our Communion together with some traditional hymns and familiar prayers.
13th August - 11:30am @ St. James-the-Less, Stubbings
Pimms and Hymns - an opportunity to sing some of our favourite songs, to hear a bit about them and to share in some Pimms! Please send us your hymn/song requests along with why you would like it.
20th August - 10am @ St. Mary the Virgin, Hurley
Riverside Service - We gather on the Riverside to worship in the great outdoors. Come and join with us to celebrate the beauty of our world as we join in Communion.
27th August - 10am @ St. John the Evangelist, Littlewick Green
Summer Communion - As we approach the Bank Holiday, we celebrate the Great British Summer with a Communion service in a slightly different way. Come along on 27th to find out more and to share in the feast together.
Soltau Centre Works
As many of you will know, we have been having some issues with the toilets in the Soltau Centre. This has now all been investigated and a plan of works has been drawn up. Works will commence in mid-August to replace the toilets, strip out the kitchen and replace all of that. Do please contact myself or Claire in the office if you have any questions while we carry these works out.
Parish Coffee Morning
Please join us on Wednesday 2nd August from 10:30-12:00 as we gather together as a parish for our coffee morning. It is a great time of fellowship and sharing along with some good cakes and (hopefully) sunshine. Also, please note that there will not be a Parish Coffee Morning in September as we will be having our Harvest Lunch around that time, keep your eyes peeled for more details!
Can you help?
Do you play a musical instrument? I am hoping to put together a little band who could play for services across the parish - I am happy to be a part of it or just meet with you all and support in other ways! But initially it would be great to just meet with other musicians and play some hymns and songs together. Get in touch with me if you are interested.
Morning Prayer at 9:15am
Wednesday St. James-the-Less, Stubbings
Thursday St. John the Evangelist, Littlewick Green
Friday St. Mary the Virgin
Our churches are open for private prayer:
Littlewick Green – open every day 11am – 4pm
Hurley – open every day 8am – 4pm
Stubbings – open Monday to Friday 9am – 12 noon
Parish Office
Please get in touch with Claire via the office e-mail (office@burchettsgreenparish.org). She is there on Monday-Friday mornings and can be contacted on 01628 820077 as well. For anything which you need I can also be contacted on vicar@burchettsgreenparish.org and 01628 822974, - please note my day off is usually Tuesday.
Blessings to you all,
Tom