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...keeping you in touchwith your church family
April 2020 Easter EditionFREE
Parish contact details:-Team Rector:The Reverend Bob KenwayEmail: [email protected]: 01249 812340Team Vicar:The Reverend Linda CarterEmail: [email protected] Vicar:The Reverend Teresa MichauxEmail: [email protected] Administrator:Mrs. Sadie Kenway,Church House,30 Church Street, Calne, SN11 0HUEmail: [email protected] Tel: 01249 816522
Church House is closed during the corona virus crisis.
Prayer for EasterMy Lord Jesus, you have risen to new life! Give me new eyes with which
to recognise your presence in the world around me.Sharpen my vision so that I can see beyond the ordinary events of each
day and into the extraordinary reality of your grace.Lighten my view of the world with renewed hope in the coming of your
Kingdom. Soften my gaze that I may view others with the kind oftenderness and compassion you showed to so many.
May each day of this Easter season provide glimpses of your glory.In your sacred name I pray.
Amen
Church addresses - No services are taking place during the crisis
Holy Trinity Church, Quemerford, Calne, London Rd, Wiltshire, SN11 0ARSt. Mary’s Church, Church Street, Calne, Wiltshire, SN11 0HU
St. Peter’s Church, Blackland, Calne, Wiltshire, SN11 8UQ
Website: www.parishofcalneandblackland.org.ukFind us on facebook @stmaryschurchcalne
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As you read this some of us may be‘self-isolating’ because of the coron-avirus Covid-19. It's amazing how
rapidly this virus has spread among us andas I write there is no sign of its abating. Suchpandemics are not new. There are manyexamples from the past. One of the manyprogrammes I enjoy on radio 4 is “The LongView” which takes contemporary eventsand looks at possible historical parallels andpotential lessons from history. There arehistorical parallels with the coronaviruspandemic, there is no shortage of candi-dates e.g. Sars (2003), or ‘Hong Kong ‘flu’(1968), ‘Spanish ‘flu’ (1918) from the lastcentury. We could go much further back ofcourse say to the 14th century. This is thecentury of the so-called ‘Black Death’ whenbubonic plague spread across Britain andindeed most of Europe. The ‘Black Death’was not of course caused by a virus but by aterrible bacterial infection carried by thefleas of rats. I recently came across anaccount of how bubonic plague affected thelife of one small rural community inDerbyshire. In 1666 Revd. WilliamMompesson was appointed Rector of theremote Derbyshire village of Eyam. Hearrived at a terrible time. In the autumn ofthe previous year the plague had sweptthrough the community (carried by fleas ona bale of damp cloth brought up fromLondon). Between September and December1665, 42 villagers died and by the spring of1666 many were on the verge of fleeing their
homes and livelihoods to save themselves.Realising that if they did the disease wouldspread into nearby Sheffield, Mompessonpersuaded the villagers to remain and thatthe village be quarantined. He told them ifthey agreed to stay he would do anything inhis power to alleviate their suffering andthat he would remain with them. Heexplained he would rather sacrifice his ownlife than see other nearby communities des-olated. Remarkably the villagers agreed tostay. More lives from the village were lostbut their self-sacrifice saved many more inthe surrounding villages. It was a sacrificethat mirrored the sacrifice of Christ himself.
We are living through anxious days. Andwhilst there is need to take steps to try toavoid contracting Covid-19 and prevent itfrom spreading, at the same time we need tofind ways of supporting each other throughthis time. I pray that the Good Friday/Easterfaith we share will bring us hope andencouragement. There are many challengesfor us today the coronavirus being only one.But the Christian gospel which begins withresurrection and with the triumph of loveover death on that first Easter Day, remainsas powerful as it ever was. We should take toheart the words of St Paul in his letter to theRomans: “For I am convinced that neitherdeath nor life … will be able to separate usfrom the love of God”. Now there’s an Easterfaith!
Revd Bob Kenway
Alleluia, Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia!
Easter and ‘The Long View’.Thought for Easter
Our Cathedral is about to getgreener with the introductionof 92 solar panels. Wiltshire
Council has approved SalisburyCathedral’s application to install 92solar panels into its cloisters. It comesas the Church of England is workingtowards its aim of reaching net zerocarbon emissions by 2045. One of thesteps to get to that point is to stopheating cathedrals and looking intohow the Church of England heats its40,000 buildings, among them manylarge cathedrals. The panels will beinstalled on the south roof of the clois-ters, and won’t be visible from theground to visitors of the 13th centurycathedral. The panels should generateover 30,000 kWh per year of electricity,
the equivalent of 8 average UK houses.This will reduce the carbon dioxideemissions of the cathedral over a year byapproximately 7.5 tonnes, with the panelsin place for a minimum of 20 years.
Father, may we neither presume upon your love by livingcarelessly, nor doubt it by living in despair.
Memories of VE Day 1945Do any of you have any memories of VE Day, that we can put in the newsletter for
May, when it will be the 75th anniversary of this event. Do send your recollections bye-mail to [email protected]
The Real Easter Egg is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year but did you knowthat Mothers’ Union members in this diocese played a big part in its success?
Back in 2010 the supermarkets turned down the idea of the UK’s first religiousegg with the story of Easter in the box so The Meaningful Chocolate Companyasked Mothers’ Union members and their churches to crowd fund the idea by placing orders.
For Easter 2020, there are five types of Real Easter Eggs available all with new content. Each egghas an edition of the Easter story included. To help celebrate a special Mothers’ Union discount codehas been made available, If you buy 2 or morecases enter code: NU2010.
Real Easter Eggs
Editorial Team:- Sue Twyman, Jane Ridgwell and Jack Robinson.
Illustration, Graphic Design and Layout:- Alex Grenfell.
Solar Cathedral
