I signed the article in very small italic script at the bottom, because the magazine committee said that people liked to know who had written pieces for The Spire. Unfortunately when it rolled off the mighty St James’ Press, the title was “LEADER RODNEY TAYLOR”! Not what I meant at all – and definitely not true!

At that stage we were just beginning the interregnum. Brian had announced his departure in April, just after Easter 2006, at which point the planning started. His last service was on Sunday 17th September 2006, followed by farewells, good wishes, and a sense of apprehension in the congregation - and certainly in the churchwardens! Clergy had been invited to take services, the rotas were planned, the readings sorted, the hymns selected – and people came! We had committed to ‘business as usual’, and it seemed to be working. I am delighted to say that it has continued to be so.

We have had the privilege of a great variety of clergy coming to take our various services. After the initial realisation that none of them was Brian, or even like Brian, not even remotely like Brian; it became very clear that each of them had a new slant to put on our faith in leading our services in their own styles. We have had the Bishop, the Archdeacon, various priests from neighbouring (and remote) parishes, curates, readers, retired clergy, non-stipendiary ministers, a hospital chaplain, an Army padre, workers from Christian charities – a whole variety of clergy, all from an enormous diversity of backgrounds in their other lives, who share our faith and have added value to what we do, by exploring different ways of interpreting it. Many people have said that, after the initial feeling of loss when Brian left, they have found this a new and eye-opening experience. It has all the tingle of going to a different service in a different church with a fresh interpretation of our beliefs - without having to get on a bus. In preparing ourselves for a new Vicar of Hampton Hill, this is a valuable exercise of exploration and challenge. It is helping us to focus us on what is really important to us, and what we really want for the future. All this without the cancellation of a single service; though one weekday Holy Communion service did turn into Morning Prayer. Thank you so much to all who have made this possible.

I hope that you already know that the position of Vicar of Hampton Hill has been offered to, and accepted by, the Revd Peter Vannozzi. We were enormously pleased to be able to announce that, very appropriately, on Advent Sunday. On Tuesday 20th March 2007 he will be instituted by the Bishop of Kensington and inducted by the Archdeacon of Middlesex at St James’. That will be only eleven months since the announcement of Brian’s departure, little more than six months since his last service, and only five and a half months since he ceased to be our vicar on his own institution at St Luke’s and Christ Church, Chelsea.

Peter’s appointment to St James’ was announced on the same day in the Cathedral Church of All Saints, Wakefield where he is at present Vice-Dean and Canon Pastor. Before that he was vicar of a parish in Dulwich for eight years. Previously he had been a vicar in Northwood Hills, and had had two curacies, the first in Kenton and the other one as curate-in-charge in Fleet in Hampshire. He is an experienced priest who has worked in places that have given him a range of very important, challenging and relevant experiences to bring to Hampton Hill. He has been an area Dean – twice – so he knows all about the organisational side of how the church works. He has also trained three curates (two of whom are women), been Assistant Diocesan Director of Ordinands and a Reader Training Tutor, so he has experience of that role of the clergy as a supporter, teacher and trainer of those in the ministry. He has been a School Governor in challenging circumstances.

We welcome Peter to his new parish. We look forward to his arrival in March, to his ministry and to his presence amongst us. We have a new leader for 2007 - we have indeed. Welcome, Peter.

• Choosing readings for the coming months (bearing in mind any festivals or saints days).
• Engaging 'spare' priests to celebrate three or more communion services a week and sending them a service book and all appropriate details for their service.
• Choosing appropriate hymns and compiling and circulating lists in advance.
• Setting up the church on Saturday ready for 8 am service Sunday. This includes checking who's doing what and putting up the rota.
• Checking there are sufficient communion wafers and wine. Our servers have been most helpful in the 'altar department'.
• Making sure that the altar frontal is the correct colour.
• Putting out the pew sheets.
• Filling in details of all the following week's services in the Service Book (and later checking that each priest has signed it).
• Writing up the intercessions book and hope that you have been informed of those needing our prayers.
• Dealing with mail that arrives at the vicarage – enquiries about ancestors in the churchyard, forms to be filled in for the Diocese, Deanery business, bills to pay etc.
• Meeting wedding couples and taking requests for baptisms.
• Dealing with parishioners who really need to speak to a priest because of an unusual problem.
• Finding someone to dig a hole ready for burial of ashes.

Of course, Christmas presented extra tasks like co-ordinating with the schools who use the church for carol services and making sure the tree gets delivered and decorated. We are so lucky to have Annie Crawford who comes and does the tree and sets up the crib. An eye has to be kept on the tidiness of the church after each carol service (i.e. Removing paper aeroplanes, mud from shoes, sweet wrappers and restoring all the straw to the crib). The church looked beautiful at Christmas thanks to Coryn and her flower team. It is kept beautifully clean thanks to David and Margaret Taylor and their small band of volunteers. There are people who very kindly hold hall keys and deal with the hirers.

Having a confirmation service at St. James during the interregnum presented its own problems too but fortunately Julie (Gittoes) was the backbone of organization for this as she had prepared our candidates and liaised with Bishop Michael. Our Social Committee worked very hard at this event and provided a wonderful spread of food. One of these dedicated people, Sarah Richardson was a confirmation candidate too, so she roped in her mum to help aswell!

So as you can see we have been very fortunate indeed to receive such tremendous back up and we couldn't cope without it.

It has been so lovely recently to hear very positive and forward-looking comments from the congregation. One person commented that she had really enjoyed hearing different priests – what had seemed a potentially difficult experience had actually turned out to be a pleasure. Another person said they hoped that Peter would be quite different from Brian because then comparisons could not be made and it is all part of moving forward.

And what's to come? Well, we are very excited about Peter's induction and of course, the plans are well under way already – the liturgy, the guest list, the music, the hospitality and so on. Peter is a warm, friendly person and is looking forward very much to taking up the St. James's position as he loves parish work. Of course Rodney and I will do all we can to help and guide him through his first few months until he settles in and finds his feet. Roll on 20th March!

The interregnum is coming to its end, and we will soon welcome Peter Vannozzi as the new vicar of St James’. For many of us the interregnum has been, with all its difficulties, an educative period. Some of us, particularly our churchwardens, have had to take new responsibilities and spend much more time on church matters. It has given us a useful reminder of how hard our vicar works for us, and perhaps how we might lighten his load in future.

Since last July this magazine has been steadily changing and we, the magazine committee, hope that it is evolving into something new and with greater appeal to the parish as a whole. By ‘the parish’ we mean the whole parish area, regular churchgoers, occasional churchgoers and non-churchgoers who perhaps do not share our faith, but respect it.

We believe the magazine is still evolving, and want to enlist the help of our readers to keep it so. The change of the magazine to its present size was one of Brian’s last legacies to the parish. He gently insisted that we should change the size, stop the advertising and produce it by our own duplicating machine. These changes were not welcomed by everyone at first, even committee members, but now we believe that the overwhelming opinion is that the new magazine is a great success.

Since the beginning of the interregnum last September, the magazine committee realised how much Brian, as leader of the committee, contributed to the content and running of the magazine. New responsibilities were forced upon us. What should be included? What should we give prominence? Who would write the leaders? Who could tell us of personal sadnesses, successes and celebrations in the parish with the knowledge and insight of the vicar? How should it be structured? What was the timetable of production? We have been very fortunate in having a group of people, including new members of the committee, whose combined skills and enthusiasm enabled us not only to take on the responsibility, but to consider seriously that elusive word ‘outreach’.

The magazine should show anyone who reads it the church services and activities linked to the church, and also the priest and parishioners who hold positions of responsibility within it. We would like to feel that a newcomer to the parish, or perhaps someone who just newly sees and admires the brightly-lit interior through our glass doors, can get an immediate idea of the many groups and activities and how to access them from the magazine. If they are interested the parish website can give them a wealth of further information. We want anyone, of any belief, who respects our church, to feel welcome within it and to understand what we are trying to do.

Beyond the facts about groups and people, we hope our articles and features say something about how our faith influences our lives. We hope that they show also that we are a broad church with room for everyone who is seeking new or further understanding of themselves and the world around us.

To do this we need your help. We welcome letters, possibly articles, even if we have not room to print them all. This month we are also including a questionnaire to give readers who do not wish to write a letter an opportunity to give us their opinions. We believe the magazine is evolving, help us make it reach more people and be of more value to us all.

Let me describe an experience. Maybe you have had it? It is when you realise - perhaps quite suddenly - that what you thought you knew just won’t do anymore. It could be that what makes the difference is a highly charged emotional experience - for example, that someone loves you or, regrettably, hates you. Or it might be that something read or heard shifts the way you think. A new piece of knowledge makes a sudden change. Or just looking out of the window at a familiar scene is to see it somehow for the first time. However it may occur the old way of knowing and the knowledge that seemed so sure no longer seem real, are not the whole truth.

On the first Easter morning the women who came to the tomb thought that they knew. They knew what they would find. Of course they did. They had seen Jesus' body placed in the tomb on the Friday, and a stone rolled across the entrance to the tomb. End of story. Certainly the end of the story of Jesus. The end of the hopes that the women and the other disciples had entertained. It had seemed that this Jesus was something special. More than that, the chosen one of God, hoped for, and yearned for. Yet his execution put paid to that. It may have seemed that God's kingdom was to be established, but rather the rule of human beings was further underlined. "Might is right." Again, end of story. The women knew all this. No doubt. And they knew that what they would find would be a sealed tomb. A dead body. Hopes still dashed. Despair the only response.

Yet this was not what the women found. They found an empty tomb, and the old way of knowing had to give way to something else. Jesus was risen, and Mary's experience in the garden shed light on the mysterious absence of a body. Now she knew what she did not know before. Now she had a new way of knowing the world, in the light of the raising of Jesus from death. And this way of knowing was not just for then, but also for now? But what is it?

First of all, we may think we know that death is the worst ever thing or rather no-thing for death is an absence. But in the light of the resurrection Mary Magdalen at the tomb had to unknow this apparently obvious fact. For when she encountered the risen Christ this was not so. For ourselves the light the resurrection casts is one to make us consider again what we think about death, and indeed to bring fresh hope as we view the world. I am not sure that I would want to be preaching in one of the churches in Iraq at the moment. Where is the hope? Death seems to have a firm grip on things. Yet the message is still the same if the experience of Mary and the other women was real.

Secondly, the women who came to the tomb thought they knew had to behave - grief and sorrow, doing all that was proper in the culture out of respect for the one who had died. The decent way of doing things. Yet the experience they had changed all that. Suddenly there were people running all over the place, Mary Magdalen twice to the disciples, Peter and John to the tomb. No slow pace appropriate to mourning, but the vigour of surprise and rekindled hope. When we come to know something for the first time it is likely to excite us. It did that to the women and the other disciples on Easter morning. For ourselves can we recall when we have suddenly experienced the vigour and energy of new possibilities that mentally, spiritually and even physically set us off in new directions? The new way of knowing given by the resurrection is like this, where death is not seen as final, hope returns and old ways of behaving are not enough.

This Easter maybe we can have a new way of knowing. Maybe as if for the first time we hear the story of the resurrection. Maybe it makes us consider what we thought we knew. And suddenly this no longer will do. For the resurrection shows that nothing is quite what it seems.

A very happy Easter to you all.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

It is strange to find myself accidentally using an expression about ‘climbing a mountain’ to describe just one part of arriving here. In fact, we use language like this all the time. We may speak of a ‘steep learning curve.’ Life when difficult can be an ‘uphill struggle’, and so on. It is all a bit of an effort, and this way of speaking can seem quite negative. There is another way of using language about ‘going up,’ though. More positively someone may be said to be at the ‘peak of fitness’ or to have reached the ‘summit of their ambitions.’ This positive language can be found within the Christian tradition (and those of other faith communities, also.)
The Old Testament has God revealing himself on a mountain in a dramatic and awesome way. A mountain is also the place of safety for Noah, his ark, and his family and animals. In the New Testament Jesus goes up onto a hill before delivering his sermon on the mount (Matthew’s Gospel, chapters 5-7.) It points towards this being a key moment of disclosure for him as to what he is about. Later, language is used about Jesus being lifted up on the cross, and raised from the grave. Later on, Christian writers in different centuries have used the image of ‘going up’ to describe getting closer to God. So in the 14th century the English writer Walter Hilton wrote of the ‘Ladder of Perfection.’ A person’s spiritual life was like climbing the rungs of a ladder until one reached God at the top of it.
In the 16th century the Spanish writer John of the Cross wrote of the ‘Ascent of Mount Carmel.’ The spiritual life was like climbing a mountain. The danger of this kind of language is that it all just seems like very hard work, and there can be a suggestion of elitism. Only a very few are spiritually ‘fit’ enough to get to God.
Yet this month, on May 17, there is the Christian feast of the Ascension of Christ. What can we do with it? We read in both Luke’s Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles that Jesus was taken ‘up’ to God. Is this simply outdated? We no longer believe in a world which literally has three floors - heaven up there, earth in the middle, hell below. Further, instead of looking for God ‘up there’ somewhere, what about here and now? God ‘up there’ could simply play into the hands of those who want to criticise Christianity (indeed, any religious faith) as simply outmoded if not downright deceptive.
For me the image of ‘ascension’ is about constantly seeking more than there is now. This is not to suggest that we should not have a degree of contentment with life if that is what we feel. Yet neither can we simply sit back, say ‘yes’ to whatever is, and then forget about how things could be different and better for ourselves and others. So of course the people of Zimbabwe, for example, should seek more politically, socially and economically. For people in another setting the challenge will be different, and will vary from person to person.
A common Christian concern is seeking to draw ever closer to God, who leads us ‘up’ to him, to find an ever fuller life. This seeking means that we will be as concerned as anyone else about issues of justice as well as how to pray better. Christian Aid Week this month illustrates very well the combination of prayer and action.
My good wishes as you climb your mountain!

The kind of words quoted above are probably enough to put anyone doubtful off religion entirely. Add to that the global rise in religious violence (which gives weight to the spurious claim that religion lies at the heart of most wars in history) and many kind, thoughtful people decide that the very idea of God is not worth bothering with.
I hope that recent developments in Northern Ireland are evidence of a move away from sectarianism. Different groups almost claiming God as theirs is less than healthy. Yet some broader conceptions of God may end up as being incomprehensible in themselves never mind rendering God incomprehensible.
Christianity seems to be particularly good at tying God up in words. The more complicated the verbal knot, the better! A Christian festival is celebrated on June 10 which is specifically about the Christian belief in God - Trinity Sunday.
At St. James’ we will sing, as part of the service:
‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty…
…God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity.’

One in three, three in one. Unity yet diversity. On it goes and round in circles. Is there a way of making sense of what Christians are trying to say about God?
Christian language about God speaks of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I believe this gets us to the heart of God. The first way this is so is that God is not seen as an ‘unmoved mover’. God is not distant from the world, pulling the levers, gazing on the world with a stony heart. Rather, God is the Creator of all things; creation itself an act of love.
God is the rescuer of all things, reaching out in a human life to the world, and demonstrating the intensity of love.
God is the sustainer of all things, not withdrawing, but remaining in all things and yet not contained by them. The apparently narrow and dry language of the Athanasian Creed above is actually pointing to the God of all things and not the God of a sect.
The second way I believe that Christian language can get us to the heart of God is that he is not conceived as being monochrome. If you like, God is multi-coloured. As Father, Son and Holy Spirit we can speak of God as ‘community’. The very diversity of humanity reflecting the diversity of God yet in God all is held together by bonds of love. Anything that goes against this, that divides, tears apart the cords that hold people together, can be seen as nothing less than ripping apart the way we were meant to be.
Religious violence must be alien to Christianity if the Trinity is actually what Christians believe to be the truth about God.
This seems a long way from sectarian kidnapping of God or dry statements which reduce God to a bore. God is God of all, not the few. God’s own self is reflected in the way we are made to be.
Having said all this, perhaps Trinity Sunday can make a little more sense to us. It will also be a day at St. James’ where we give thanks for people’s financial contributions to the church during the past year.
There will also be an opportunity to begin to contribute financially to their church in a planned way, if they wish and if they are able. What has that to do with the Trinity? If we are indeed created to reflect the very nature of God that is true in all aspects of our lives. God is generous. Am I?
If we want places such as St. James’ to continue to exist to proclaim Christian belief about God and the practice that flows from it, we need to support it.
Time is important as well as money, of course, but our concern on June 10 is specifically on the latter.
Just to end with another religious quote. This time from Spike Milligan. If humour cannot be contained within the heart of God, and if religious people cannot laugh at themselves, I would be very disappointed:
‘And God said, “Let there be light” and there was light, but the Electricity Board said He would have to wait until Thursday to be connected.’
Amen!

What does ‘patron’ mean? Here is one dictionary definition:
One that supports, protects, or champions someone or something, such as an institution, event, or cause…
What and who does James ‘support, protect or champion’? Here are a few examples
Places: Compostela, Spain; Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzogovina; Nicaragua; Montreal, Canada
Suffering people: arthritis and rheumatism
Working people: apothecaries; soldiers; veterinarians; hatmakers
Pilgrims: a category all on its own, as tradition has it that James was buried in Compostela in Spain: Compostela is still a place of pilgrimage today.
Often it is unclear why a specific saint was chosen to support, protect or champion a particular cause or place or person. This is certainly the case with St. James, Hampton Hill. As far as I know, it is not known why James was chosen as the saint for the new parish and church of 1863. Yet the list above points us to why James might still have something for us in 2007 as he did for the people of Hampton Hill (or ‘New Hampton’) in 1863.
In the New Testament James leaves his life as a fisherman with his brother John to follow Jesus. They are called ‘sons of thunder.’ Is this because of their temperaments? If it is, they show little ‘thunder’ when they abandon Jesus along with the rest of the apostles. Yet after the resurrection of Jesus, James is the first of the apostles to die for his faith. He turns around and starts again. Is it fanciful to see in this the possibility of a man who will have learnt all about failure and suffering? Is it right to see him as one who knew despair in the face of Jesus’ death until he knew joy at Jesus’ resurrection? Is it reasonable to glimpse, if only briefly, a real human being who can indeed be the patron or champion of a good many places, people and situations that need the deepest support of sympathy, for we all need, in our different ways, to know that someone, somewhere, cares.
If we consider those for whom James is a patron saint, this rapidly roots us in the real world and brings to the front of our minds genuine needs.
Places: do not forget Bosnia-Herzogovina, not in the news now, but still recovering from civil war and ethnic cleansing and remember Nicaragua, desperately poor, always on the edge of natural disaster due to hurriances.
Suffering people: recall those whose lives are severely affected by arthritis who cannot do what they would wish to do and also those who work researching both causes and cures.
Working people: ‘apothecaries,’ doctors, all who work in the medical profession seeking the best physically and mentally for their patients. In case being the patron saint of hatmakers seems a bit silly, tell that to people who live in places where no hat could lead to severe burning or sunstroke!
As I reflect on James the apostle (James the ‘Great’, to distinguish him from ‘James the Less’, another apostle, chosen after our James), I find that people and causes given to him lead me to prayer and concern. Practically, how can I be a patron? How can I be a supporter, protector, champion, in some aspect of my life? Is it for my family, friends, colleagues, neighbours? Or for people whom I have never met, but whose situation touches me? It is almost as if someone who claims to be a Christian is being asked to be the ‘patron saint’ of others: their supporter, champion, and protector. If our celebration of St. James leads us to this, then it will have been not just for us, but for others, too.

Happy St. James’ Day!

I change by encountering someone I may not have met before or by hearing some piece of news that was new to me. I change by reading the paper I bought and discovering there a fresh perspective on widely reported events. Given all this, given the inevitability of change, why is it so many of us find change so difficult?

It may be that change is hard as it can seem to erode values we believe in passionately. Or because much-loved and familiar customs disappear or are belittled. Or because we are simply comfortable and do not want to be disturbed. All sorts of changes may unsettle us from the loss of a corner shop to a change of neighbour to a change of the ethnic make-up of our area to a change of government. The Church, surely a bastion against change, not surprisingly finds change particularly hard along with other institutions. For members of the Church of England, change has particularly been evident in the past few decades with new services and women being ordained. Yet should the Church be anti-change? If it is, it ignores the experience of Jesus and his disciples and simply adopts the conservatism of whatever age it may happen to be. Why should the Church be rather more positive about change?

This month, on the 6th of August, a festival is kept, that of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Matthew, Mark and Luke all record in their gospels how Jesus went apart with his disciples. He did this often. Yet this occasion was different. Jesus takes with him Peter, Andrew, James and John and they go up a mountain. There’s a clue here that something was about to happen. In the Old Testament the mountain in the wilderness was where God made himself known. Something is about to happen of importance. We read that Jesus’ appearance is transfigured – something of the glory of God shines out from him, and he is seen standing with Moses and Elijah, two great Old Testament figures and symbols of two different aspects of Old Testament religion. Moses points to the Law and Elijah to the prophets. This scene is depicted in our lovely east window in St. James’s given in memory of the first vicar of the parish. The disciples hear a voice proclaiming that this is the beloved Son of God. Peter wants to stay there on the mountain, immersed in the wonderful experience, but that is impossible. There is a journey that Jesus must accomplish – to the cross. What has this to do with change?

It is only by change that the disciples grasp who Jesus is. It is only when they eventually change their attitudes and cease to expect Jesus to be a violent, military ruler that they can appreciate the cross. It is only by changing from frightened to confident people that they can be real disciples. Without change, they would be stuck in an old mindset which does not free them for new life, but rather imprisons them in a false way of viewing the world. Change as a theme or emphasis is present in Christianity whether the Church or Christians like it or not. Again and again we read of moving from old to new, darkness to light, death to life. When we consider ‘rites of passage’ (see this month’s centre pages) they have change at their heart. So in baptism we change as we join the Church and make explicit that we are children of God. In marriage we change as two people become joined as one and begin a new life. If the Church and Christians are not willing to countenance change in their lives, something is missing. This is not to say that all change is good, that the latest fad has to be adopted. (There is something quite sad about the Church catching up with the latest management speak, for example, ten years after the rest of society has moved on to something new.) Yet whatever our age, attitude, place in life, gender, and so on, there is always the possibility of more, and the Transfiguration of Jesus points me to that and gives me hope. I do not much like the idea of being stuck as I am for the rest of my life with all the limitations that implies! One politician’s view of this is seen in these words from the late President John F. Kennedy:
‘The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizon are limited by obvious realities. We need men and women who can dream of things that never were...’

In St. James’s Church and churchyard there are depictions of angels. They conform to a conventional artistic view of what an angel looks like – wings, indeterminate sex, a distant expression, but with a certain beauty. This month sees a Christian festival on the 29th – that of Michael and all angels or ‘Michaelmas.’ What of ‘angels’?

The word ‘angel’ literally means ‘messenger’ and we have plenty of examples in the Bible of angels as messengers. In some cases the angels are terrifying figures, and in others they are comforting beings with a message of hope. In the Old Testament, in the Book of Genesis, cherubim (a type of angel) guard the entrance to the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3.24.) They are there to prevent the man and woman returning to the Garden from which they have been expelled. Their message is not one of hope, but rather they underline the judgement of God which has resulted in the man and woman falling from their happy state in the Garden of Eden. In the New Testament, by contrast, an angel (named as Gabriel) comes to Mary in Nazareth and tells her that she is to be part of God’s loving purpose for the world. (Luke 1.26-38.) The message of the angel is that the way to God has been opened rather than closed. There is no longer a guard over the way to the Garden of Eden.

Besides being messengers, angels are depicted in the Bible as being God’s heavenly servants. Their role may be as guardians so Psalm 91, verses 11-12:
‘…[God] will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’
An angel’s role, besides being a guardian, may also be as a worshipper. In the New Testament, in the Book of Revelation, there is a vision of a great multitude of all sorts of beings praising God:
‘I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang:
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honour and glory and praise!" (Revelation 5.11-12)

I wonder, then, what to make of angels? There is certainly contemporary interest in them as the 91,400,000 results that come from Google show when I type in the word ‘angel.’ A very quick survey of some of the websites show an interest in every conceivable detail of angels. Some is rooted in the Bible. A great deal of the interest comes from other faith traditions or is based on people’s spiritual experience with no reference to any tradition at all. For myself I go back to the two images of messenger and servant.

As far as the Christian Church is concerned, I believe it has a message to deliver and needs to be very concerned that it is delivered. As with any organisation with human beings involved in it, its message can be distorted by human frailty, politics, and a failure to see that it must practise what it preaches. The angel who came to see Mary and tell her that she would be the mother of Jesus had a message of hope and the Church should always ask where the hope is in its message. A message is about more than words, but is also given through deeds.

The second image, of servant, also is one that the Church generally and Christians individually need to take to heart. We do not exist just to serve ourselves and to please ourselves. Angels in the Bible serve God by their positive actions towards people and in their worship of God, the source of all that is. If we begin to see one another as created by God then we may actually want to do something positive for one another. If we see God as the Creator, we may wish to express our thanks. Service as both worship of God and practical action fit together.

Perhaps my grandmother was on to something, then, when she told me to be an angel. If we can be messengers of hope and servants of God and other people, that to me is being truly angelic. So, go on, be an angel!

Every day we read reports in the papers or hear items on the news about the environment. It varies from local authority to local authority, but recycling points are commonly seen now on street corners, in car parks, by school playgrounds, and so on. The science of global warming is becoming increasingly accepted. Dire warnings are being issued about the future of the planet. In 2004 the film ‘The Day after Tomorrow’ depicted graphically through the medium of modern special effects the consequences of continuing as we are now. Though the science of the film was criticised as being inaccurate, a Hollywood blockbuster crossed over the divide of entertainment into making points about the planet and how we use or abuse it.

Yet here we go, another piece about the environment. Everyone’s talking about it, but does that mean we someone cease to hear the message? If we do not hear the message, will we actually do anything? Or is this someone else’s problem, and not mine? Is it not rich for the prosperous west to tell developing countries that they are really rather naughty to want to share in the wealth that comes from industrialisation? Questions are thrown up the moment we enter this particular arena.

At St. James’s this month, and in this edition of ‘The Spire’ we are considering the environment and a Christian approach to issues concerning it. In September, some members of the congregation attended a day conference organised by the Bishop of Kensington called ‘For Creed and Creation’ and there is a very clear connection between ‘creed’ and ‘creation.’ Christian belief sees God as Creator. The opening two chapters of the Book of Genesis seek to convey this belief in story form. God delights over his creation – it is very good. The place of human beings is seen as the crown of creation, but their duty is to be stewards of creation. Concern for the environment is not some trendy add-on, but rather an inevitable consequence of seeing the world as God’s own. How will this be considered at St. James?

The Parochial Church Council has supported a small group of people in looking at our ‘carbon footprint’ and we will looking to act accordingly. The Harvest Festival service on Sunday October 7th at 9.30am will have a clear environmental theme. There is little point in singing ‘We plough the field and scatter’ if in the future there are no fields and no seed! The service paper will have ‘green tips’ on the front and back inside covers for the congregation to take away and put into practice. Effectively, they will be recycling the service papers. I hope that this does not just raise awareness, but also shows how each person can take practical, simple steps to make a difference to God’s creation. Yes, these are tiny measures compared to the impact of an entire nation and its industry, but these does not excuse us from doing what we are able to do. If the world is indeed seen as God’s creation, not to act when we can is utterly unjustified.

As part of the Harvest Festival we will be singing this hymn which goes to ‘St. Denio,’ the tune to the well-known hymn ‘Immortal, invisible, God only wise.’ It expresses a belief in God as Creator, and how people who believe this might respond:

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.
Creation reminds us, O God, of your love.
By grace we are learning, as year leads to year,
We're called to be stewards, your caretakers here.

Your rainforests nurture the world that we share.
Your wetlands give animals shelter and care.
Your coral reefs cradle the life of the sea.
You've shown us, in love, what your good world can be.

Too often, O God, we abuse your good earth.
We fail to remember its beauty and worth.
We take from creation much more than we need,
We threaten your world through indifference and greed.

May we be good stewards of all that you give,
Protecting creation wherever we live.
May we be a church that renews and restores
And lovingly cares for this earth that is yours.

© Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, 2001

On not a few occasions while working at Wakefield Cathedral, Bishop Walsham How came to mind. Partly because the cathedral contains an effigy of him, but also because of his pastoral staff. The cathedral has a fine metal staff in the shape of a shepherd’s crook which Bishop How, and the eleven bishops following him, used when in the cathedral. On not a few occasions I stood waiting for the current bishop, the twelfth, with his staff ready for him. There was always for me a great sense of continuity at that point. The staff pointed me to those who had preceded the current bishop, and had also carried that staff as a symbol of their pastoral care of their diocese. It reminded me of the countless number who had been present at services in that place, both before and after 1888. All the ‘saints.’ As Walsham How wrote:
‘For all the saints who from their labours rest,
who thee by faith before the world confessed,
thy name, O Jesu, be for ever blest.
Alleluia.’

I mention this as November sees on the 1st, and on the nearest Sunday, the 4th, the celebration of All Saints. The word ‘saint’ literally means ‘holy one’ which itself means someone ‘set apart.’ This suggests to us someone who stands out somehow, who is difference. All Saints brings to mind people whose lives have been a powerful example of their faith and pointed to the God in whom they believe. Some will be named, and others will have been long forgotten. It is a festival with an element of triumph to it. Yet there is another side to the coin – All Souls. This commemoration is on November 2nd though again at St. James we will keep it on the nearest Sunday. All Souls allows us to remember those whom we have known and loved, and to acknowledge our sense of loss. Whereas All Saints is bright and joyful, All Souls is more solemn and restrained, and this is reflected in the colour worn by the priest and seen in the altar frontal in a church - white for All Saints and purple for All Souls. Any triumphant note must always be tempered by the practical reality of human living so that the Church does not run away with itself and be filled with its own importance!

A similar note combining celebration and sombreness is occasioned by the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church observed in this country on November 18th. Christians sadly still suffer persecution for their faith (as do other people of faith.) For example, the plight of the Palestinian Christians, squeezed between two opposing factions, is well known now. The saints today are in many places hard pushed publicly to profess their faith. Lives have been lost, and the feel of All Souls is as appropriate as that of All Saints. The reality of life roots faith and makes it plain that it is not an escape from the world as it is.

Dark November, short days, colder weather, but a month in which joy and sorrow are held together in the Christian Year, and underlined by Remembrance Sunday in this country. The complexities of life are acknowledged and not ignored, and in the midst of it we celebrate saints and commemorate souls. We spare a thought and prayer for those also for whom each day is a struggle because of what they believe. At the time of writing, I think of Buddhist monks in Burma as well as hard-pressed Christians in Pakistan. As Walsham How wrote in ‘For all the saints’:
‘And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
steals in the ear the distant triumph-song,
and hearts and brave again and arms are strong.
Alleluia.’

At the moment it is appearing in a TV advert. A couple of years ago a newspaper said that until this song was heard, Christmas had not arrived. In which case this year it began in late October! Yet it is a ‘feelgood’ song which features frequently at Christmas parties and which we will hear played as we go around supermarkets.

Yet what would be the view of Scrooge? Most likely that the song is very silly, and once it gets into your head, you cannot get it out. Christmas is an unnecessary extravagance which gets in the way of business and practical living. Do we really need to begin Christmas shopping two or three months before the day? Is it necessary to eat as if it were our last meal?

We may have sympathies with both points of view. Surely it is OK to have fun sometimes without putting on a hair shirt and feeling guilty for taking pleasure in life. Does it benefit anyone else to be miserable? The Church has often had a good line in moaning about people enjoying themselves. Whatever a person is taking pleasure in must be sinful, so stop it! Christmas is a time when we can legitimately be very happy. If Christians really do believe that a baby was born in Bethlehem called Jesus was actually the Saviour of the world, it does suggest that they should rather enjoy Christmas.

Yet there is another side to the coin. Christmas is very obviously not a time for fun for so many people. Those spending Christmas on their own not because they want to, but as they have no choice, may find Christmas Day one of the longest of the year. The first Christmas without a loved one can leave a person feeling they have a gaping hole in the middle of their being. People looking in at the shop windows when their finances will not allow them to buy what they would dearly love to give to their children on Christmas morning. Then let us not even begin to consider those for whom Christmas Day will be a day of war, not peace; hunger, not nourishment; hate, not love.

I would suggest that as Christmas approaches we need some sense of balance. For Christians Christmas is a theological celebration. In case that sounds spoilsport and boring, it is not. It means that they have to consider Jesus, and he went to parties. So we can celebrate and rejoice. Carols can be sung joyously with a smile and with no reservation. One of the most astonishing statements in the Bible comes at the very beginning of John’s Gospel and it will be read on Christmas morning at St. James’s and at churches throughout the world:
‘The Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us.’
Astonishing? In the Old Testament the ‘word’ of God is God’s self-expression. Now that self-expression has taken our human view. Humanity and God are joined as one. The world to come and the world now are not mutually incompatible.

An implication of the Word made flesh, though, is that we have to face up to the fact that not all of life can be a party. If we see Christmas only as about a festive binge then we have missed the point. Let us not call this ‘Christmas’, the ‘Mass of Christ,’ but something else. If we give no thought to the desperate plight so many people this Christmas, we have forgotten that Christ was born in humble circumstances in an occupied and oppressed land. The season following Christmas, Epiphany, which begins on January 6th and continues throughout January, works out what this means. ‘Epiphany’ means ‘revelation’ or ‘showing’ and begins with the feast of the Epiphany on the January 6th when, through the wise men, Jesus is shown to the whole world and to be for all people. All not some and so our celebration of his birth must have in mind the many and not the few.

I do wish all who read this a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year. Whether you feel more like Mr. Wood or Mr. Scrooge, may your Christmas be both joyful, but also thoughtful, because:
‘The Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us…
and we have seen his glory…’

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