November 2008

VICAR: The Revd. Martin Fredriksen                                                     Tel: 694109

PARISH OFFICE (Mondays to Fridays 9.30am – Noon) Tel: 697641

 

FROM THE VICAR:  When I began my ministry at the ripe old age of twenty three, I could look at the list at the crematorium and, with the exception of the occasional tragedy like a motor-cycle accident, everyone was older than me.  As the years have caught up, I notice that there are several who are younger than me and personal mortality is brought sharply into perspective.  I have lost count of the number of funerals that I have conducted, but know that the total is in the thousands by now.

I am always slightly concerned when I am told that someone has ‘sadly died’ – true, the circumstances may be sad, but for Christians (as well as for many other religions in the world) this is the start of something greater and more wonderful.  The sadness lies with the mourners, but the hope of glory begins to become a reality for the Departed.

There is a growing tendency nowadays to want just to celebrate the life of a person, rather than acknowledge that they have actually died.  As I have always understood it, there are three essential elements to a funeral service – Yes, to give thanks for that person’s life; but also to lay them decently and properly to rest (which is what the Latin word Requiem means) – and then to support those left behind with prayer after they have said their ‘goodbye’.

November is the month of All Souls and Remembrance Sunday, but also of All Saints – a time of wonder and a glimpse of glory.  Whenever we worship we ‘are surrounded by the great cloud of witnesses’.

                                                                        Martin Fredriksen

 

 

 

October  2008

VICAR: The Revd. Martin Fredriksen Tel: 694109

PARISH OFFICE (Mondays to Fridays 9.30am - Noon) Tel: 697641

 


 

FROM THE VICAR:  It has been a difficult year for all of us in so many different ways -  fuel prices rising alarmingly and affecting the cost of everything in the shops; house-prices falling; companies making staff redundant and going into liquidation.  Added to all this, the weather has been awful with the wettest August on record.  Those of us who have taken holidays at home this year have returned brown – but with mud and rust, not a suntan!  Locally, I’m sure we shall find out, it cannot have been a good year for those in the holiday industry – many ice-creams unsold!

Harvest time seems to have come round very quickly this year and it is clear that farmers have had a very difficult time.  Fields have been ruined by excesses of water, prime crops beaten down by the weather – at best, producing lower-grade yields and at worst, rotting in the ground.  Global warming? – certainly not that warm in our own country, but some places abroad have been sweltering and water supplies have been running dangerously low.

There was one year in this Parish, when Harvest Festival was nearly cancelled because there was little in peoples’ minds to give thanks for.  Despite so much advance in scientific knowledge and technology, we are reminded that there is so much still that is beyond our control – and always will be.

Poverty is relative and we are so richly blessed in this part of the world compared with many other places.  Come and join us on the first Sunday in October to give thanks to our Heavenly Father for his blessings.

                                                                                      Martin Fredriksen.

 

September 2008

VICAR: The Revd. Martin Fredriksen Tel: 694109

PARISH OFFICE (Mondays to Fridays 9.30am - Noon) Tel: 697641

FROM THE VICAR: I was reading an article recently in the church press about the obsession in our present day of so-called 'healthy eating'. Things are calorie-reduced, fat-reduced, alcohol reduced and such like – the only thing apart from a decent flavour that is not reduced, is the price. The buzz-word is 'lite' - and the bottom line is, as always, if we eat too much of anything, then we will put on weight.

The article went on to say how there was an also an obsession for ‘lite religion’ – something that is not too challenging, makes the individual feel good, is user-friendly and has simple catchy music to accompany it all.

Like 'lite' foodstuffs, 'lite' religion may also have its place, but it does not cope with the realities of day-to-day living. Several times over my ministry, the pastors of fringe Christian groups have only been too eager for me to conduct funerals for them - simply because they did not know how to cope.

Our Lord Jesus came to this world and immersed himself in all its joys, as well as its sorrows. His journey to ultimate glory was along the Way of the Cross.

A faith that has nothing to say about the atrocities of the world and the environment, about sickness, disease, exploitation, broken relationships, inequality, death and all the rest, would mean that I would have nothing to give and share with others in my ministry.

The 'lite' option, may be the easy one, but it bears no resemblance to the reality of the world in which you and I live.

Martin Fredriksen.

 

Archived sermons :

2008 - January, February, March, May, June, July, August

2007 - January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December