Category: Priest’s Monthly Letters

From The Parish Priest

Every time I escort a coffin from the lichgate up any of our church paths to the main door I always recite the words of Psalm 122: I was glad when they said to me let us go to the house of the Lord.

It is often used in services for when someone is entering a church building, most obviously, and recently, at the Coronation of our King. It was originally written about going in to the Great Temple in Jerusalem, and the importance of both the temple and of Jerusalem to the Jewish people. In the Christian tradition the new Jerusalem is the Kingdom of heaven opened to all believers by Christ.

Verses 6 and 7 of the Psalm say O pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you Peace be within your walls and tranquillity within your palaces.

The dreadful scenes of human suffering that have assaulted our eyes through our television Screens, newspapers and the internet from the Holy Land make that prayer even more urgent that it ever has been.

Human beings’ ill treatment of each other, of whatever side, politics or religion is always wrong, and the continuous acrimony and bitterness that continues between societies in that sacred part of the world is a source of deep sadness and shame on the human race.

We, as a society or individuals, may not be able to affect the immediate future of the Holy Land, but we can affect the human race by making sure we treat each and every other person with the respect and love that they are entitled to simply by being a human being created and loved by God.

As we spend this month remembering the horrors of times past: Wars, and gun powder plots etc. let us also our responsibilities to learn from the past and work for a peaceful and bright future for the whole world.

With love and prayers,
Philip

From The Parish Priest

October is a lovely month… fairly free of major occasions. In Church life we are also free from major festivities. There are plenty of those in November and December, but the calendar of saints presents us with a number of people who exampled Christian faith and service in their lifetime.

There are some of the saints from the early days of the 7th Century Celtic church: Ethelburga, Wilfrid, Paulinus and Cedd. We remember them now with great thanks and fondness, but we are foolish if we forget that it was a time of great disagreement and debate. There are St. Francis of Assisi and St. Edward the confessor, who did much to shape and influence the life and mission of the church in their time despite many challenges and setbacks.. There is Martin Luther, a major figure in the Reformation who challenged the church’s hypocrisy and corruption, and there are Nicholas Ridley, Hugh Latimer and William Tyndale who all died in the violence of the Reformation.

There is Bishop James Hannington who was killed taking the Gospel to Uganda at the end of the 19th Century, Elizabeth Fry, the great Quaker campaigner for proper treatment of offenders in prison, and Nurse Edith Cavell, martyred during the first world war. Each of these people, and thousands more all faced the challenges of their time to live and proclaim the Gospel. Sometimes they worked with the blessing of the church, sometimes they fought the church tooth and nail, and yet they are all remembered by the church for their faith and service.

Also, St Luke, the writer of the Third Gospel, as well as SS Simon and Jude, who, because of the similarity of his name to Judas is regarded as the Patron Saint of Lost causes and hopeless cases, which all if the aforementioned people must have felt at some point.

As we approach All Saintstide at the start of next month, let us look to those who have gone before us for inspiration and encouragement as we seek to live and serve with the challenges that face us today.

With love and prayers,

Philip

Well!  What a Summer we have had! 
For our church family, there has been much to celebrate!

Summer Celebration at Roadford Lake. This was such a wonderful occasion. Well attended by joyful Christians, who, with the help of Menestrouthi brass, brought the warmth of the sunshine into the hall as the real thing decided to hide behind teeming rain all morning!!

The visit of Origin Voices over the following weekend was wonderful in so many ways. It was so good to see people from all over the Mission Community supporting all the events. The worship on Sunday was a real treat and the Concert at Upcott surpassed all our expectations! Everyone who has spoken to me about it has said that the weekend left them feeling so much better.

As I write, there is a great deal of anticipation in the preparation being done at Lewtrenchard for two Church Family Weddings, we are looking forward to a wonderful Ruby Wedding Celebration at Lifton, and much work has been done to prepare for yet another wonderful Flower Festival weekend at Broadwoodwidger, which I am sure will be well supported by all.  As the psalmist says in Psalm 133:  Behold how good and pleasant a thing it is to dwell together in unity….

Much of the study of Church History is the study of arguments and fallings out…., and yet it should be of a people who live and worship together in love and work to proclaim God’s truth. I am certain that the last few weeks have been the latter rather than the former!

A huge thank you to everyone who supported these events in any way… Let us build on this and work together, not just for special occasions like these, but in our daily lives and in support of our Sunday worship.

With love and prayers,

Philip

From The Parish Priest

Dear friends,

The first half of the year has so far been rather hectic. The end of Christmas leading on to Lent and Easter, with all the preparations for and celebrations of the Coronation, there seems to have been very little time to think. And yet thinking is so important.

We need to think about what we say and do, otherwise we can find ourselves in all kinds of messes!

Up to now, the church has been busy celebrating and following our Lord’s life and we have moved between fasts and feasts and some speed. The last of these major occasions falls on the first Sunday of June. Trinity Sunday. The day when we are called to think about the very nature of God. Not an easy thing to do. As God is other, so we will never have the right language to describe or explain him fully. The Concept of the Trinity. Three beings, separate but completely one is beyond our human telling, and many people have tried, and failed, to explain it. No piece of artwork, and no written or spoken treatise will ever do it justice, and just leaves us asking more questions.

But what God IS is LOVE, and although it may not be explainable, it is something that we are all able to experience. I do not understand every experience I have. I do not understand the science or engineering that makes an A380 take off from the ground and fly across the pacific at 40000 feet, but I do know that it is true and I have had a Gin and Tonic while looking down at the ocean 40000 feet below. Human being crave understanding, but sometimes it is beyond us and that does not make our experiences false.
May our combined experience of the love of God in Christ Jesus, and the grace of the Holy Spirit, help to bring us all together to serve God in each other.

With love and prayers,

Philip

From The Parish Priest

The Coronation of a King, or Queen, in this realm, has not recently been a common occurrence. There are many people who have not lived to witness one, and the youngest of those who were alive to witness our late Queen’s coronation are all receiving their pensions!

At the heart of the Coronation Ceremony is the anointing with oil. This is an ancient and biblical practice to signify both the solemnity of the occasion and the prayer for the Holy Spirit to guide our new King. Do come and join us for our Vigil Service to Pray for King Charles on the evening before his coronation.

The Coronation Service will indeed be solemn, because it will recognise the seriousness of what is taking place, but it will certainly not be miserable, but Joyful, as it is, quite rightly, a celebration.

As we mark and celebrate this special occasion, let us remember our calling to joyfully celebrate the faith of Jesus Christ with our worship both acknowledging the power and awesomeness of God and also sharing the pure Joy of his love.

Including the Coronation there are three great celebrations this month.

Unlike a coronation, the Feasts of Ascension and Pentecost come round every year, but that does not mean that they are not worthy of proper celebration. We will be celebrating Ascension Day with an Evening Service and party, and Pentecost with our usual Sunday Services as advertised. Please do come and join us as we celebrate God’s love in the life of our Church and nation.

God Save the King!

With love and prayers,

Philip

From the Parish Priest

Dear friends,

This year the Month of April opens with the annual celebration and remembrance of Our Lord’s Passion and death in Holy Week and Easter.

The days from Palm Sunday to Easter Day are of the utmost importance to the whole church and to each and every Christian, and, as I do every year, I invite you to join us as we recall in a sacred pilgrimage the events leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

The Services at this time of year have evolved over centuries to enable us to experience the love of God in the story of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection.  With Six churches, all of the events of Holy Week are Mission Community events and are open to all, whichever building they happen to be in. I look forward to joining you for worship at this special time.

On a more practical note, we have made two decisions regarding our worship going forward.

First, it was agreed that from now on all Mission Community services on a Sunday morning will be at 11am rather than 10am. This allows for a better transition from worship to lunch, which we will now try to have together at all Fifth Sunday Celebrations.

Secondly, after three months of having Evensong at St. Mary’s Lifton, on the Second Sunday of each month, as an experiment, we have decided to continue for the rest of the year.

On a personal note, May I thank all of you who have shown so much kindness to myself and my family after our recent bereavement. Although we are saddened by my sister’s death, we are also strengthened by the Christian hope of the Resurrection which we will all be celebrating this Easter.

I hope and pray that the joy of Easter will fill all our lives.

With love and prayers,

Philip

From the Parish Priest

Dear friends,

Well, we had a relatively normal Christmas!  We could travel and gather together, we could sing together in church and enjoy each other’s company in our homes.  I was able to be with my mum at new year for the first time in three years!

When things go wrong, or when we are stopped from doing what we usually do, there is always the temptation to look back at what we used to do and wish for it. That is completely understandable. However, we also have opportunities to look at what we could and can do now. This may even mean changing some of the things we do.

This month sees Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent when we are asked by the church to REPENT!  The word repent has all sorts of overtones and undertones which are not always helpful, but it actually means to TURN AROUND. Lent has traditionally been the time when Christians have concentrated on the way we live our lives, on turning round back to live as Jesus calls us to.  In some ways much of the traditional Lenten practice has been replaced in secular society by efforts such as Dry January which are about personal discipline and wellbeing.

The Christian church has been encouraging its members to live lives in love, prayer and service for all of its existence. In Lent we are called to think about how we can be better Christians, people, husbands, wives, employers, workers… by following Christ’s Call to live in his love.

I invite you all to use this time as we prepare for the great feast of Easter to explore God’s love, and join us for our worship across the benefice, and to our Lent exploration Group on Monday evenings, as we look towards what God is calling us to do and be in 2023.

With love and prayers,

Philip

From the Parish Priest

Dear friends,

John Betjeman begins his wonderful Christmas Poem with the words:” The waiting Bells of Advent ring…” and by the time you are reading this Advent has begun. It is a time for watching, waiting, and preparing. It is traditionally a time of excitement and expectation which is often swallowed up by the mad dash for Christmas Shopping. In church though, we try to keep the season of Advent as a solemn time of preparation to welcome Jesus into our lives. Not just as the baby in the Crib at Christmas, but also into our lives, day by day.  Advent Calendars and candles and the famous Advent wreath with its five candles are all ways of counting down and building up towards the great festival of the Birth of Jesus.

As we approach the new year too, there is always a tendency to look back on the past year. It has been a momentous one nationally, with the death of Her Majesty the Queen, and the accession of King Charles. Politically there was great upheaval, an undeclared war in Europe and an unprecedented financial crisis. The scars and effects of the Covid Pandemic have also cast a long shadow in all our lives.

In Advent there is a tradition of looking back into the Old Testament to look for signs and hints of the coming of Jesus. So, as we look back at what has been, for many, a very tough year, let us look for the signs of God’s goodness and hope in the past year: Events that have united or inspired us, acts of kindness that have moved us, works of art or education that have uplifted us all tell of the hope that God gives us for the future.

We approach 2023 with hope in the goodness of God and with renewed commitment to make this world a place that reflects his will, purpose, and kingdom.

May I wish you a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful, prosperous, and happy new year.

 With love and prayers,

Philip

From The Parish Priest

Dear friends,

The Autumn colours, together with the earlier onset of darkness are letting us know that we are approaching winter and the end of the year. That means that many of us are getting quite busy planning and preparing for Christmas. Yes already! Well, let’s be honest, there have been Christmas goods in the shops for weeks!!

I am not a great fan of early Christmas, but I am a fan of ADVENT. A time of watching, waiting and preparing. “All good things come to those who wait” is a proverb that means a great deal to me at this time of the year, and on Advent Sunday, the last Sunday of this month, the church starts to look forward with eager anticipation to the celebration of Jesus’ birth, with themes of hope and light.

There are so many stories around us that seem to be about darkness and despair. I hope and pray that as we approach the Advent Season we may all be given new hope in and through the love of Jesus, and be ready to welcome him with real joy.

With love and prayers

Philip

Dear friends,

As I write this letter, I am sorting out all the arrangements for the celebration of Harvest Thanksgiving across our churches.

Since Victorian times, the celebration of the Harvest in the Autumn has become part of our annual pattern of events. The Farmers sow, nurture and reep. We then thank God for his gifts.

The harvest, or lack of, has been a major news item over the past few weeks. A combination of the hot weather, lack of rainfall, and other world events such as the war in Ukraine has meant that the world faces a shortage of food, and the inevitable rise in the cost of food for the customers in the shops.

I read in an information leaflet this year that approximately, worldwide,  One Third of all the food grown prepared, packaged and cooked for human use is thrown away before it is eaten. And yet there are still millions of people who are starving in this world. This is a disgraceful situation, and something that all of us can do something about, not only by lobbying those who make policy and decisions, but also in the way we manage our own households.

Thanking God for his gifts in Creation does not mean taking them for granted.

This harvest, let us think again of the effort that goes into providing our food, and the real human cost of wasting the earth’s valuable resources.

With love and prayers,

Philip