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15 T H F EBRUARY 2015

My birthday falls at the end of Au-

gust, most years. I always find it

particularly moving that the good

people of Malmesbury shut down

their High Street and hold a vast

procession of floats to celebrate the

vicar’s birthday weekend. I didn’t

realise that clergy were so popular,

and to be honest it gets a little em-

barrassing. The other issue is of

course this: you are more than wel-

come to celebrate me, bring me

presents and build floats on any of

the other 364 days of the year. I am

no less ‘born’ on any of them, my

humanity is not particularly dimin-

ished in July or September; unless

the vicarage has run out of coffee.

And this is, in a way, an issue for the

church calendar too. On one level it

doesn’t make any sense at all. The

incarnation of Jesus Christ is no

more significant an idea for the 24

hours we call December 25th than

it is on the 24 hours we call Ascen-

sion Day (whatever date that falls

on,) when we choose to mark the

risen Christ ascending in glory to

his Father’s side. And this year on

Friday 3rd of April we will focus on

the crucifixion, and then on Sunday

5th April the resurrection, knowing

fully that the death and resurrec-

tion of Jesus are the most signifi-

cant truths of any given day, hour

or minute.

But for all that I would be lost with-

out the church calendar. However

we ended up doing it like this, an

odd mixture of Jewish agricultural

festivals, biblical calculations and

the desire to stamp out pre-existing

pagan festivals, it helps me pro-

foundly to consider Christ's journey

to the Cross for a season, and then

to allow the Resurrection to ex-

plode in my imagination, and then

to wait impatiently for 50 days to

COMMUNITY OF THE CROSS Vicar’s Blog

cry out again at Pentecost for the

pouring out of the Holy Spirit, in

this place, on this day; May 24th

this year, as it happens. I would be

really quite random without all this.

So Ash Wednesday leads us into a

season, Lent, where you and I will

lay to one side the birth, the resur-

rection and the second coming,

and words like desert, temptation,

Satan, hosanna, trial, cross, thorns,

tomb and, eventually, hallelujah are

allowed to draw us into Christ’s

journey in his final weeks on earth.

As He looked to the cross, so do we,

as he wept in the Garden, so do we.

So on February 18th, take a few

moments quietly, nowhere near a

skatepark, to read the set passages

for Ash Wednesday, and say a

prayer as one by one the global

church becomes the community of

the cross.

ABBEY DIARY

THIS SUNDAY: February 15th

9am BCP Communion

10.30am Holy Communion

4pm Informal Worship, the Grid

& Junior Church

5.30pm Skate Park set-up

THIS WEEK

EACH DAY 9am Morning Prayer

WED 18th 10.30am Communion

in Eilmer House

7pm Communion at

Corston Church

WED 18th- MAS 2015

FRI 20th

SAT 14th 10am The Meeting Place

NEXT SUNDAY: February 22nd

9am BCP Communion

10.30am Holy Communion &

Baptisms

4pm All-age Communion

ADVANCE

Feb 24th Glory!

Mar 24th Holy Week Festival begins

Apr 24th Election Hustings

Apr 26th Vision Sunday & AGM

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of wit-

nesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so

easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked

out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, scorning its

shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that

you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4 In your struggle against sin,

you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And

have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that ad-

dresses you as a father addresses his child? It says,

‘My child, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,

and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

and he chastens everyone he accepts as his child.’

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For

what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disci-

plined – and everyone undergoes discipline – then you are not legiti-

mate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had

human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How

much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They

disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disci-

plines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No

discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however,

it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have

been trained by it. 12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak

knees. 13 ‘Make level paths for your feet,’ so that the lame may not be

disabled, but rather healed.

Additional Reading: John 6:60-71

HEBREWS 12 :1-13

DA I LY READ INGS 1. Read Hebrews 12:1-13. What is

the 'Therefore' there for in v.1?

2. 'Since we are surrounded by such

a great cloud...' (verse 1). Who are

the 'cloud'? What effect should

knowing 'we are surrounded'

have on our Christian journey?

3. 'Let us throw off...the sin that so

easily entangles us' (verse 1). Dis-

cuss (and pray later on about).

What is interesting about the

phrase 'throw off' or 'get rid'?

4. 'let us run the race marked out

for us' (verse 1). In what ways is

the Christian journey like, and

unlike a race?

5. As Christians who want to run

well and finish, what is the best

training programme you can

think of which will help you. Try

and think of as many things as

possible.

6. Discuss how your 'training pro-

gramme' will get priority in your

diary this week, and pray to-

gether.

DISCIPLESHIP

Monday

Psalm 44

Jeremiah 1

John 3:1-21

Tuesday

Psalm 48

Jeremiah 2:1-13

John 3:22-end

Ash Wednesday

Psalm 51:1-8

Isaiah 58:1-12

John 8:1-11

Thursday

Psalm 77

Jeremiah 2:14-32

John 4:1-26

Friday

Psalm 3

Jeremiah 3:6-22

John 4:27-42

REGULAR G IV ING

If you would like to give regu-

larly to the mission and minis-

try of the Abbey as part of your

discipleship, please e-mail

[email protected].

DESMOND TUTU HUST INGS

On Friday April 24th at 7.30pm there

will be a General Election Hustings

hosted at Malmesbury Abbey. In an

event, which will be a little like BBC’s

Question Time, all those standing to

be the next MP for the North Wilt-

shire constituency will be answering

questions posed by the ’studio’ au-

dience. More details to follow, but

an important date for your diary.

There are a number of devotional

books for Lent on sale in the Abbey

Bookshop including the Archbishop

of Canterbury’s Lent Book 2015 ‘In

God’s Hands’ by Archbishop Des-

mond Tutu, and his recommenda-

tion for 2014 ‘Looking through the

Cross’ by Graham Tomlin.

REFRESH ! J EREM IAH & JOHN

A new daily bible readings series

starts this Monday; you can find it

on the previous page. If one of the

things you’d like to do this Lent is

read the Bible a little more consis-

tently this is a 40 day opportunity

to read through the prophet

Jeremiah and the gospel of John. If

you can’t join us for Daily Prayer in

the chapel there is a simple liturgy

for use in Lent on our issuu page:

issuu.com/malmesburyabbey

The first Refresh! women’s event of

2015 will be held on Tuesday 3

March at Malmesbury Abbey. The

speaker will be Richenda Milton-

Daws (Licensed Lay Minister at

Charlton Church) and she will be

speaking on God’s Character. The

2015 Programme and invitation

for this event will be circulated

soon.

NOTICEBOARD

Enquiries 01666 826666 // Box Office 01666 824339 [email protected] www.malmesburyabbey.com issuu.com/malmesburyabbey

BAPT I SM ON EASTER DAY

All our services on Easter Day at the Abbey are joyous celebrations of the

resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you would like to be baptised at our 4pm ser-

vice on Easter Day could you please contact one of the clergy or Sandie in

the Parish Office by the end of February.

EASTER E VE V IG I L

REVD DR EMMA INESON

Advance notice that we have a guest preacher joining us at our 4pm service

on Sunday March 1st. Revd Dr Emma Ineson is the Principal of Trinity Col-

lege, Bristol, which recently produced the Revds Lee Barnes, John Mona-

gahan and Linda Sullivan. Her areas of research include gender studies, char-

ismatic theology, spirituality and leadership.

We are considering holding an all-night Easter Vigil from 10pm on Easter Eve

until 6am on Easter Morning. The Abbey will be open all night, with prayer

and worship every 30 minutes and probably a fire outside and simple food

and drink shared. Then at 6am there will be Holy Communion and breakfast

together. If you are interested in being a part of this could you e-mail Sandie

so we get an idea of numbers. [email protected]

ABBEY OFF ICE

Monday (10am-12noon)

Tuesday-Friday (9.30am– 3pm)

Tel: 01666 826666

[email protected]

www.malmesburyabbey.com

issuu.com/malmesburyabbey

Staff members can be contacted

by [email protected]

CAFÉ HOURS

Tuesday-Saturday (normal)

9am– 3.30pm

Sunday & Monday closed all day

[email protected]

HOLY WEEK FESTIVAL 2015

MAR 24-28 THE GARDEN LABYRINTH MAR 28 ART//STATIONS OF THE CROSS

MAR 28 COMEDY & JAZZ //PAUL KERENSA with PETER JAMES & ROSIE ARCHER*

MAR 29 THE KAIROS ENSEMBLE//REJOICING BLUES* MAR 30 PROFESSOR SIMON CONWAY MORRIS MAR 31 THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME*

APR 1 GLORY! PRAYER APR 2 THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC*

GOOD FRIDAY ALLEGRI & JSBACH APR 4 BBC WILSTHIRE//EASTER FROM THE ABBEY* EASTER DAY SERVICES AT 6AM, 9AM, 10.30AM,

4PM & 6.30PM

*TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM MARCH 1ST