27th July 2020

An Open Letter to our Parishioners

Blessed Be Your Name

In the land that is plentiful

Where Your streams of abundance flow

Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name

When I'm found in the desert place

Though I walk through the wilderness

Blessed Be Your name

The long summer of lockdown seems to be coming to an end. Not only in the way that life is beginning to open up again for many of us, but the way in which the glorious sunshine we have enjoyed throughout seems to have gone on holiday. The rain is pouring down as I write and I may even have to turn a light on. I know that the gardens are in desperate need of a good watering, but it does feel that autumn is on its way – I even picked my first blackberries yesterday.

As we move from one season to another, it can be a good thing to look back and reflect. There have been some surprisingly joyous moments of the lockdown, as well as moments of loss and grief, of loneliness and fear.

For me, the difficult moments have been taking funerals for families who I cannot even shake hands with, let alone hug. Funerals for church members where I know we would usually have been bursting at the seams, have been limited to a handful of family members.

The realisation that we would not be able to celebrate Easter in our beautiful buildings and with our church communities, was also a moment of sadness and loss. Disruption to schooling, especially for those in transition years, has been a difficulty many have endured.

And like many, I haven’t been able to see wider family members – the last time I saw my parents was February.

So what of the joys? Painting rainbows, writing these letters to you all, discovering how to use the internet in various guises to continue to worship. I have been blessed by more time with my family as evening meetings have mostly stopped (and zoom ones tend to be more concentrated). Feedback from people who have, ironically, felt more connected due to letters and online worship; connecting with those who regularly tune in to worship who wouldn’t usually be able to attend physical church.

As we re-open there will be more joys, and possibly even some unexpected sorrows. I would love to hear from you what your experiences of lockdown have been. The opening quote comes from a song by Nick Redmond, if you would like to listen to it in full, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTpTQ4kBLxA

Love and blessings,

Vanessa

Schedule of online worship on the next page

Worship online, either live, or later, www.facebook.com/thewallopingvicar/live/ (you don’t need to be signed up to Facebook to access this page).

Monday

9.30am Celtic Morning Prayer

6pm Compline livestreamed from St Peter’s OW (Psalm 4, 2 Corinthians 11:1-15) Tuesday

9.30am Ffald y Brenin Morning Prayer (Psalm 119: 161-176), 6pm Compline livestreamed from St Andrew’s NW (Psalm 9, 2 Corinthians 11:16-end)

Wednesday 6pm Compline livestreamed from St Mary’s Monxton (Psalm 11, 2 Corinthians 12).

Thursday 9.30am Thought for the Day 6pm Please join us for Compline at St Leonard’s Grateley, or watch live on Facebook (Psalm 18, 2 Corinthians 13)

Friday 6pm Compline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3eJa-dVHzY

Saturday 6pm Compline livestreamed from St Michael’s Quarley (Psalm 24 James 1:12-end)

Sunday 10am Holy Communion Celebration from the Rectory* (Choose your time) Morning Worship (watch this website for the link) 11am Sunday School (www.facebook.com/littleangelstots) 6pm Prayer Book Compline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piSxraR1hk0&t=8s

* Also available on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6m0XxDXfi0&list=PLwwbSMwmdszRxjt3KclEdNCPdD9rvmJ5p

Sermons can be found www.nothinglikeadane.wordpress.com

28th July 2020

An Open Letter to our Parishioners

I undertook the religious life for the love of God only, and I have tried to live only for

Him; whether I am lost or saved, I want simply to go on living entirely for God; I shall

have this good at least that I shall have done all that I could to love Him unto death.

The Practice of the Presence of God (Brother Lawrence).

Usually I am a big one for celebrations (as you will know if you come to a family service when the chocolates come out). It took me by surprise yesterday to realise that with all the ups and downs this year, I had missed the anniversary of my licensing as ‘The Walloping Vicar’ (a term my cousin coined when I told her I had been offered the position). Although it isn’t a big deal for anyone else, I like to look back on the past years and all the changes (and there have been many: I am on my 2nd Diocesan Bishop, 3rd Suffragan, and ‘seen off’ 2 Team Rectors!). It is interesting to read the Parish Profile and Job Description that I was sent those 11 years ago…. The focus of the pack that I was sent was the two villages of Over and Nether Wallop, as the role (at the time) was to have specific care for The Wallops as well as being part of the team. Well, that has certainly changed as our ministerial line up has morphed and perhaps the moniker ‘Walloping Vicar’ is too narrow a description now: perhaps the ‘Grateful Vicar’? Suggestions on a postcard please*. There is a tendency with clergy descriptions for parishes to want ‘the moon on a stick’: someone who is great with children and also the elderly, a young visionary with years of experience, someone who is outgoing from the pulpit and reflective in prayer, who will have a heart for reaching out to those who don’t know Jesus whilst nurturing the congregation! When I look back on the documents I can clearly see things that I can ‘tick off’: Yes I have been enthusiastic (sometimes too much so), yes I have explored new ways of bringing parishioners together for worship, yes I have involved young people and taken an active role in Wallop Primary School (and Grateley and even Amport prior to Matthew’s arrival), yes I have engaged with and extended the worship at Winton House Nursing Home, working with a team of lay ministers in order to do so. However, there are also things I haven’t done: I am aware particularly that members of the parishes would appreciate more pastoral visits, and perhaps I haven’t been as ‘assiduous’ in carrying out that part of the role as was originally hoped. Or that I have spent more time ‘reaching out’ than ‘reaching in’. The good news is that the church isn’t the sole domain of the vicar: we are all members of the church and all called into ministry at our baptism. Our own ministry will look different from our neighbour in the pew because God has given each of us different gifts. The good news is that when the Sunday sermon has not been ‘inspiring’, discussion in our fellowship groups has; that when a friend from church has brought round some flowers or a cake or a smile and listening ear, even though the vicar hasn’t visited, the ‘church’ has. The quote at the top of the page I rediscovered in The Worship Book that was put together for my ordination retreat in 2005. Together with the recruitment pack it has given me food for thought regarding how we can all be church as we enter into a whole new world post-Covid. Perhaps you can add your thoughts to that postcard? Love and blessings,

Vanessa *For anyone under the age of 40, ‘answers on a postcard’ was a common phrase for TV game shows requesting audience participation prior to the use of electronic communication!

Worship online, either live, or later, www.facebook.com/thewallopingvicar/live/ (you don’t need to be signed

up to Facebook to access this page).

Monday

9.30am Celtic Morning Prayer

6pm Compline livestreamed from St Peter’s OW (Psalm 4, 2 Corinthians 11:1-15)

Tuesday 9.30am Ffald y Brenin Morning Prayer (Psalm 119: 161-176), 6pm Compline livestreamed from St Andrew’s NW (Psalm 9, 2 Corinthians 11:16-end)

Wednesday

6pm Compline livestreamed from St Mary’s Monxton (Psalm 11, 2 Corinthians 12). Thursday

9.30am Thought for the Day

6pm Please join us for Compline at St Leonard’s Grateley,

or watch live on Facebook (Psalm 18, 2 Corinthians 13)

Friday 6pm Compline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3eJa-dVHzY

Saturday

6pm Compline livestreamed from St Michael’s Quarley (Psalm 24 James 1:12-end) Sunday

10am Holy Communion Celebration from the Rectory*

(Choose your time) Morning Worship (watch this website for the link)

11am Sunday School (www.facebook.com/littleangelstots)

6pm Prayer Book Compline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piSxraR1hk0&t=8s *Also available on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6m0XxDXfi0&list=PLwwbSMwmdszRxjt3KclEdNCPdD9rvmJ5p Sermons can be found www.nothinglikeadane.wordpress.com

29th July 2020

An Open Letter to our Parishioners

Autumn days when the grass is jewelled, and the silk inside a chestnut

shell; jet planes meeting in the air to be refuelled, all these things I love so

well. So I mustn’t forget, no I mustn’t forget to say a great big thank you,

I mustn’t forget!

Estelle White

Can you feel the change of seasons approaching? Blackberries ripening, slightly shorter days, more rain and less sun….

Of course there is a change in the way that we are able to live our lives again, more sociable and less distanced (but please do wear a face covering if you can).

The schools have officially broken up, Little Angels has also taken its usual break for the summer. Holidays are being enjoyed and seaside towns are beginning to bustle again.

The wedding trade is also picking up and clergy inboxes and diaries are filling as well. Parents are once more booking baptisms. There is a greater sense of joy!

Our churches are making plans to resume services and looking to celebrate Harvest. Harvest is used as a metaphor in the Bible for the fruits of God at work here on earth. I wonder what fruits we can harvest from our time in Lockdown, what unexpected ‘gifts’ the pandemic has brought us. Perhaps we can celebrate those too when we come to give thanks for the land and toil of our farmers?

Love and blessings,

Vanessa Worship online, either live, or later, www.facebook.com/thewallopingvicar/live/

Wednesday 6pm Compline Livestreamed from St Mary’s Monxton (Psalm 11, 2 Corinthians 12).

Thursday 9.30am Thought for the Day 6pm Please join us for Compline at St Leonard’s Grateley, or watch live on Facebook (Psalm 18, 2 Corinthians 13)

Friday 6pm Compline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3eJa-dVHzY

Saturday 6pm Compline Livestreamed from St Michael’s Quarley (Psalm 24 James 1:12-end)

Sunday 10am Holy Communion Celebration from the Rectory* (Choose your time) Morning Worship - watch this page for the link 11am Sunday School (www.facebook.com/littleangelstots) 6pm Prayer Book Compline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piSxraR1hk0&t=8s

*Also available on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6m0XxDXfi0&list=PLwwbSMwmdszRxjt3KclEdNCPdD9rvmJ5p

Sermons can be found www.nothinglikeadane.wordpress.com

30th July 2020

An Open Letter to our Parishioners

Yesterday I wrote about less sun and more rain, today we seem to have woken up to a resumed heatwave! The Cole family are beginning to get our bags packed for the holidays, and I am bringing an end to the morning broadcasts that have been in place since lockdown began. In some ways it feels sad to bring this time to an end, but also right that some of my focus needs to return to worshipping in church. In the back of my mind, as I speak these final prayers, is the recognition that a second wave may return us to lockdown and if so, the times of prayer online will also resume. I have a concern too for those who have regularly tuned in and may not be able to make it to live worship. If the online worship has been a lifeline for you, a way of being connected that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to engage with (even without lockdown), please do let us know by emailing our administrator (secpdteam@gmail.com). A Sunday service will continue to be uploaded each week as long as we are able, and both traditional and contemporary forms of Compline can be found on YouTube (search for The Walloping Vicar). This evening (and every Thursday evening for the time being), Compline will be held in St Leonard’s Grateley and you are very welcome to join us (at a safe distance and wearing a face covering if possible); there will also be a Sunday Service this week at 10am. We are working towards a pattern of worship to begin in September across our churches. We are looking forward to returning to that which we know and love (even without the singing), but also excited about new ways of hearing God’s story. When I return I will tell you more about ‘The Telling’, a campfire experience where God’s story is told afresh so that we can find our place within it. Love and blessings,

Vanessa Worship online, either live, or later, www.facebook.com/thewallopingvicar/live/ (you don’t need to be signed up to Facebook to access this page).

Thursday 9.30am Thought for the Day 6pm Please join us for Compline at St Leonard’s Grateley, or watch live on Facebook (Psalm 18, 2 Corinthians 13)

Friday 6pm Compline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3eJa-dVHzY

Saturday 6pm Compline Livestreamed from St Michael’s Quarley (Psalm 24 James 1:12-end)

Sunday 10am Holy Communion Celebration from the Rectory* (Choose your time) Morning Worship - watch this page for the link 11am Sunday School (www.facebook.com/littleangelstots) 6pm Prayer Book Compline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piSxraR1hk0&t=8s

* Also available on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6m0XxDXfi0&list=PLwwbSMwmdszRxjt3KclEdNCPdD9rvmJ5p

Sermons can be found www.nothinglikeadane.wordpress.com