… some turn-of-the-year thoughts on faith and politics from David Soward.
2016 was a momentous year for those who think about the world and feel the need to engage with it, and 2017 may be even more so. As Willliam Temple, Bishop and (briefly) Archbishop in the first half of the 20th century, is famous for saying:
The Church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members.
On Saturday 7 January about 60 people from across the Benefice gathered in Enstone Village Hall to wish Jane and Ian Henderson well as they move to their new home in Witney.
Jane and Ian moved to Enstone back in 1993 and since then have played a big part in both in the parish of Enstone and, since its formation in 2001, the Chase Benefice. They will be missed by us all – but as Witney is only just down the road we hope that they will visit regularly. Continue reading Farewell to the Hendersons
… as if you need reminding!
Christmas really begins for us in the Benefice with our Crib and Christingle services. It is always a joy to see the churches full with excited children eagerly waiting for the arrival of the big day itself. Continue reading It’s nearly Christmas!
The Benefice has been pleased to support the work of a South Africa-based HIV charity, TOPSY, in recent weeks. TOPSY works in a remote rural area to support communities affected by HIV. In particular it operates 35 places of safety for orphans and vulnerable children, and assists affected families by providing home-based care, medication, and food parcels. Continue reading Thank you from TOPSY
Are you looking forward to Christmas?
From the middle of November, shops, media and advertising collude to convince us that Christmas is magical, full of joy and fulfilment. Cares are banished and laughing children reinforce the message that sadness and anxiety have no place in the festivities.
But for many reasons Christmas can be a difficult time of year. Perhaps a family bereavement, a broken relationship, loss of a job, or ill-health – there may be any number of reasons why people find it hard to join in with the festivities all around them. Many people find Christmas difficult as they are reminded of what they have lost or have never had, and we can feel very alone in the midst of all the celebrating and spending.
If you are not looking forward to Christmas, we would like to invite you to a special ‘Longest Night’ service on Wednesday 21st December at 7.00 pm in Enstone Church.
You will find space and time for quietness and reflection in the busyness of the Christmas season, and through music, readings and prayers that will focus on the true message of Christmas – God’s gift of hope and reconciliation to a hurting world, in the form of a vulnerable baby, born to shine a light into our darkness.
It’s our privilege to offer a space where the reality of life with its grief and pain does not have to be left at the church door but can sit alongside the hope and light which is the real heart of Christmas.
The service will last for about 40 minutes. All are welcome – no church experience necessary.
The discussion at the first of this year’s Advent Suppers focused on the challenge of forgiveness. We regularly pray that we may be forgiven as we forgive others and sometimes it is easy to forgive – but there are times when it is hard, even impossible. So how does the Bible help us understand how we might approach forgiveness? To help our discussion, we read some news stories including two about Eva Kor, a concentration camp survivor who was able to forgive the unforgivable when others would not or could not. We watched Rob Bell’s video ‘Luggage’ in which he argues that forgiveness is as much to do with setting ourselves free as it is lifting the burden of others. A lively discussion followed that ranged over a variety of personal experiences and produced some memorable mental images including filing cabinets, dead balloons and horse jumps!
Unfortunately time didn’t allow us to explore some of the wider questions, such as how forgiveness relates to desire for revenge, whether it means condoning bad behaviour and how it might differ from reconciliation. We plan to organise a discussion group next year to give us an opportunity to discuss some of these questions, maybe in the form of a book club. The Brothers Karamazov, anyone?
If you would like to look at the materials we used you can download them here. You can also find a link to the Bell video we watched.
If you haven’t signed up but would like to join us for the second and third Advent Suppers, please let Mark know by signing up here
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Chase Benefice 