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Vicar's blog

Welcome to the 'Vicar's' blog - our front-page thoughts from Roundabout Lightwater contributed by our curates and church wardens...

Our vicar Mark's final blog: Moving on  4 July 2017

After just over five years as Vicar of All Saints’ Lightwater, this month I finish my time here and prepare to move to Woking, where I’ve been appointed as Vicar of St Mary of Bethany Church. If the news has come as a bolt out of the blue, you’re not the only one! It took me by surprise too and came rather earlier than I was hoping. But God put it on my heart and I’ve felt his hand in the move in very many ways, and one thing I’ve learned in Christian leadership is that, if God is calling you to something, you had best get on and do it. I’m so sad to be saying goodbye to such a warm, friendly and strong community where things have gone so well; I am confident I will not live somewhere like Lightwater again and I’m glad we will be just seven miles down the road and can stay in touch with friends here.

What else have I learned over my time here? Lots of things! In no particular order:

I’m in a hurry but God tends not to be – he’s a lot more patient than I am and he usually plays the long game. So keep praying and don’t give up.

Honesty and directness are generally the best approaches to personal relationships and difficult or conflictual situations. It’s much better to talk to people than to talk about them. If you have a problem with another Christian, Matthew 18:15-20 is the best place to start in dealing with it.

Communication is more important than most churches realise. People ‘out there’ have much less idea of what faith in Jesus is about than was the case, say, 20 years ago, and we tend to assume people know more than they do. Christians need to get much better at telling the story of what their life together as a church looks like – being part of a church is a fantastic experience which makes you part of the biggest and best movement in history!

There’s a lot more that I could say. Let me just answer one of the most popular questions I’ve heard in the last few weeks: what’s happening about a new Vicar? Well, typically it takes about nine months for an appointment to be made (sometimes longer; sometimes shorter), and All Saints’ will be in the capable hands of your ministers Ruth and Derek, and your churchwardens Jackie and David, in the meantime. Pray for them and for all those responsible for the big decisions that will need to be made during this time. I am busy lining up a galaxy of special guest stars for Sunday services, so do check them out.

And please pray for the Wallace family and everyone at St Mary of Bethany as we move. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit (Philippians 4:23), and God bless you until we meet again.

It's the Lightwater Village Fete and All Saints' Lightwater Flower Festival YAAAAY!  2 May 2017

Spring is in the air, which means it must nearly be time for the Lightwater Village Fete! On Saturday 13 May we’ll see one of our biggest community get-togethers of the year.

This year you won’t be able to miss All Saints’ Church. We’re reviving our popular Flower Festival in church over the weekend (open Saturday and Sunday 12–4pm), with 17 local organisations contributing arrangements on the theme of Wedding Anniversaries. As a church family we have literally hundreds of years of experience of marriage, so we’re very excited to be able to celebrate and think about how much it brings to our society. I can’t wait to see what groups as varied as Lightwater Nursery and Lodge Brothers Funeral Directors will have to say about it! Whatever you do, don’t walk past the church without taking a look.

At the Fete, we’ll be supplying fun for all the family – our ever-popular bookstall and tombola, a bouncy obstacle course for younger children and a bucking bronco for older ones (and anyone willing to have a go and make a fool of themselves!). And for the first time we’ll be running a rest tent – some quiet space to take time out, with activities for children and space to sit and be. All our stalls will be grouped together so you won’t be able to miss us. Do stop for a chat – I look forward to seeing you there. On the Sunday we’ve got a Festival Service for all ages in our church hall at 10am – a really good chance to worship God in a slightly different setting.

I often talk to people in Lightwater who work long hours and don’t have the chance to engage fully with the community. We really have an unusually strong village community here, perhaps because Lightwater is relatively modern and has always embraced newcomers. If your working week is hectic and your weekends pressurised, don’t miss this opportunity to do something different and meet your village.

Easter and the reality of resurrection  27 March 2017

Stephen started using heroin when he was 14 years old. By the age of 18 he was injecting up to seven times a day. He was in and out of prison. He had Hepatitis C. He had trouble walking – his feet were swollen because that’s where he injected. He was in a very dark place and his future looked bleak.

Then an amazing thing happened. Stephen gave his life to Jesus, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and healed of his addiction. Suddenly he had a new life, hope and a future.

Today Stephen is the Pastor of City Gates Church in Ilford, a fantastic beacon of hope in a tough neighbourhood. Over the last 25 years a small Christian community has become a large one: hundreds have come to faith. And yet they have faced dark times too – in 2012 their brand new building suddenly collapsed during construction, putting in jeopardy a multimillion-pound project.

I worshipped God in Stephen’s church recently – the new building finally opened last year. I heard his amazing story, told with a life and passion I can’t get across in this short article. There is no denying the transformation in his life and in that community.

The Easter story tells us that there is hope and a future for everyone who wants it. Out of the darkness of Jesus’ death on Good Friday comes the Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

If you think it’s just a story, let me ask you this: why didn’t someone produce Jesus’ body when the rumours started that he was alive? How did his eleven closest friends, broken and fearful of death, go on to change the world? Before you decide that Christianity isn’t true, you’ll need persuasive answers to these questions.

Here, then, is the truth: you are loved. There is hope in your life, however dark it is and whatever mess you’re in. New life is possible. Resurrection is a reality. This Easter, find out for yourself – it could be the best choice you ever make.

Time for a spiritual detox? 27 February 2017

Lent is upon us again – the church’s traditional season of prayer, reflection and discipline in the six weeks leading up to Easter. In 2017 Lent has as much relevance as ever: whether you’re giving something up or starting something new, these days ideas of detoxing and mindfulness are modern equivalents of the ancient spiritual practices of fasting, prayer and meditation. In our crazily busy lives, it is important to make space for quiet and retreat from the noise of a 24/7, ‘always on’ existence.

Some of the children at Hammond School were taken aback recently when I explained that ‘OMG’ is a prayer! It’s the cry of the lifelong atheist who finds herself sitting on a plane as it hurtles towards the ground in a crash. For many people, this is the only way they ever use the words ‘Jesus Christ’ – in a heated moment or an emergency.

Christian prayer, mindfulness and meditation are distinct from any other religion, because they focus on the one God who is above us and in us through his Holy Spirit, and his son Jesus Christ. Many forms of meditation try to find a truth deep inside yourself; Christians believe that the truth we seek is external to ourselves: a God who loves you and wants you to know him better.

Prayer is not easy. It’s hard to make time for you and God, to know what to do, where and how to do it. That’s why we’ve organised an afternoon called ‘Teach us to pray’ at All Saints’ Church, 2–4pm Sunday 5 March. Whatever your age, stage of life and wherever you are in your journey of faith, it’s a day which will help you to pray. I hope you’ll join us.

And may I encourage you to do something different this Lent? You could step away from social media or your smartphone for six weeks. You could learn a new skill or try a new activity. You could even engage with your own spirituality and take the next step in your journey with God.

We're all DOOMED! 27 February 2017

What if every male in the world suddenly died, except for one man and one monkey? That’s the starting point for the graphic novel series Y: The Last Man. I’m just getting towards the end – it’s a fascinating mixture of imagination, adventure and reflection on the differences between the sexes. What would life look like if women did everything and there were no men left?

February is often the most depressing month of the year, so it seems like a good time to be thinking about the forthcoming apocalypse! It’s a favourite genre in fiction – you might prefer the TV/comic series The Walking Dead (zombies), or novels and movies like The Road (unnamed catastrophe), Lord of the Flies (nuclear war) or Day of the Triffids (alien plants). All of them start from the premise: what if a terrible, cataclysmic event happened to humanity? And all of them share an answer: life goes on. People survive. There is triumph over adversity and people’s true characters emerge in times of crisis.

I have met quite a few people who have had cataclysmic things happen in their lives, for example the death of a child, abuse or violence. For all of them, life had to go on. Many of those with a Christian faith have found comfort, peace and healing in the presence of God. He doesn’t answer all of their questions, but he is present in the storm. The shortest verse in the Bible tells us, ‘Jesus wept’ at the grave of his friend Lazarus (John 11:35). Here, uniquely in world faiths, is a God who understands our suffering and struggling because he’s been there himself.

So next time you find yourself thinking about a Worst Case Scenario and wondering, ‘How would I ever survive?’, be confident that you would. There is life on the other side. There are people just like you who have been there themselves. And there is more strength in the human spirit than you might imagine.

What does your Sunday look like? 9 January 2017

Happy New Year!

I’ve been struck recently by how little people know about what actually goes on in church. If you think church services are stuffy, formal and irrelevant, then you’re in for a pleasant surprise at All Saints’ Lightwater.

We work hard to give everyone a warm welcome, no matter who you are or what you’re like. Our society celebrates people who are young, good-looking and successful, but no one stays that way for long! The church family is one of the only groups which really understands the ups and downs of life; among our 150 or so regulars, you’ll find people who have been through something similar to you. It’s a safe place for broken people, whether you’re struggling with illness, bereavement, loneliness, childlessness or tough relationships. You won’t be judged and no one will look down on you.

Our church family is a fantastic place for kids; in fact it’s one of the only groups where all ages of children mix freely together. It’s brilliant to see our teenagers chatting to primary school kids over a board game, phone or tablet. We have brilliant groups for children from birth upwards at our 10.45am Sunday service – as a parent myself I understand how important it is that kids have a great time and want to come back week by week. It doesn’t matter that your kids are noisy and won’t sit still!

Our church family also celebrates senior adults; we wouldn’t function without their hard work and life experience. There’s something hugely encouraging about meeting people who’ve ‘been there’ themselves. There’s also something hugely powerful about spending time with people who have a relationship with Jesus for a really long time.

Our 9am Sunday service is traditional but not very formal; a quiet space to meet with God and other people. Our 10.45am service is contemporary and informal; there’s a band with guitars, keyboard and drums; we use a screen, not books. The talk at both services is generally the same, relating faith in Jesus to your everyday life.

As the Vicar for everyone in Lightwater, I see my job as being all about relationship: what I want to do is to introduce you to a friend of mine: Jesus, and to help you to know him better. If you expect church to get in the way of that, I’d love to see what you make of it when you meet us.

A group like no other 7 November 2016

Think of a group you belong to. What do you do together? What are your members like? Is there a minimum or maximum age? What do you get out of being a member? What do you contribute?

There’s a group here in the village which does a whole variety of things together. Its members are all ages and stages of life – the current minimum age is under one, the maximum is mid-90s. At its best it feels like a big family. At its worst it feels like…a big family! It’s a group where single parents find help with their kids; orphans find they have parents; single people and childless couples have children and grandchildren; widows and widowers find the friendship and care they need. And everyone finds help answering the big questions of life: why are we here? Do I have any significance in life beyond what I do and the people around me? Is there such a thing as life after death?

Of course this group is All Saints’ Church. And we’re not just there for our members: someone once said that the Church of England is the only national organisation which exists for the benefit of its non-members. You might be surprised to know there are people on your street who are praying for you.

I’m struck by how many people have no idea what church is about. It’s common for a view of Christian faith to be based on a rather strange hotchpotch of media portrayals and out-of-date experiences. So if your idea of church is stuck somewhere between The Vicar of Dibley, Coronation Street and Songs of Praise then you may need to wake up and smell the (freshly brewed filter) coffee (or tea, served with biscuits or cake after just about everything we do). Find that friend or neighbour who has a faith and ask them what it actually means to them. With Remembrance Sunday and Christmas round the corner, you’ve got some wonderful opportunities to find out more.

Horror in North Korea 29 September 2016

I’m never one for light holiday reading. This year my poolside books included Escape From Camp 14 by Blaine Harden, a harrowing account of the only man ever to escape from a North Korean prison camp. I am convinced that, in years to come, our children and grandchildren will hear about the horrors of the present North Korean regime and will ask us why we did nothing to help its people.

North Korea only really features on our news when they test nuclear bombs. Foreign correspondents who visit the country never get further than the show capital Pyongyang, and are shepherded round the sights which the regime wants them to see. You may have seen the uncomfortable BBC Panorama programme recently where correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes ended up being expelled from the country because of the way his visit was reported in the UK.

There is a reason why the regime does not want anyone to know what is going on beyond Pyongyang. It is because it runs five vast political prisons containing tens of thousands of people; these are labour camps where people are born, live and die without ever seeing the world beyond the electric fences. As with the whole country, people here are encouraged to inform on others, even their closest family and friends, to make any hint of free thought punishable, often by torture or death. A whole family will be punished for one person’s ‘crime’. Being able to trust no one is so dehumanising that those who do escape North Korea have enormous challenges adjusting to a new life. If you don’t believe me, read Blaine Harden’s book or the excellent Nothing to Envy by American journalist Barbara Demick.

Anyone in the free world can see these camps on Google Maps. Unlike the horrors of the Holocaust, which only became public knowledge when the concentration camps were liberated, we have no excuse for our ignorance. However, the problem with the ‘information age’ is that most of the ‘information’ I have is about Cheryl Cole! We need to pray for North Korea, for God’s mercy on its people and its leaders, and we need to agitate so that our government knows we care.  

A bit of encouragement, from Ruth our Curate 26 September 2016

Like me, many of you will have enjoyed watching the Olympics, and be looking forward to the Paralympic Games. What a privilege to see these amazing athletes compete and give their all. We have held our breath, gasped in awe, willed them on, cheered, cried and celebrated! It has been incredible to witness records being broken and new achievements being set.

I have been reminded of the extraordinary commitment these athletes give to their sport. They put in hours of practice and drill. They fail and try again. They endure pain and develop resilience. It is an incredible feat of body and mind. What keeps them going through the dark winter days of training?

‘Silva takes Gold’ was the great headline when Rafaela Silva won Brazil’s first gold medal! British divers, Tom Daley and Dan Goodfellow, were truly delighted with their bronze! Athletes push their own limits to strive for medals, records and personal bests. And the crowd roars when they do! We celebrate their achievements with them.

The crowd will also stand and cheer the athlete who falls and gets up again, and the competitor who is staggering on their last legs. We yell our encouragement: don’t give up, keep going, the end is in sight! And with the thunder in their ears, they find some new reserve to get them over the line.

Encouragement is a gift. We give it away in order to build up someone else.  We can encourage them to set their goal and to keep going through difficulties. We can give encouragement by reminding them of the progress they have already made. We can encourage them to take stock and reflect on the best way forward. Encouragement is a listening ear and the right word at the right moment.

Our children and young people will need encouragement as they set their goals this academic year and persevere with their learning. A parent will need encouragement as they face sleepless nights with a baby, or the turbulence of teenage years. A colleague will need encouragement as they strive to meet targets and deadlines. You be in a unique position to encourage the people you live and work with. What difference would it make if we could say something encouraging to them on a regular basis? What could they be encouraged to do and to become?

‘Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.’  The Bible (1Thess 4.18)

As Christians, we seek to live our lives purposefully for God and for good; to enjoy the gifts God has given us and to use them well for others. Jesus calls us to a radical new lifestyle and that is not always easy. We need encouragement when faced with difficult choices. We need the support of others to pursue God and God’s ways. As Christians in Lightwater, we find that support from God in prayer and in the community at All Saints. Whether you call yourself a Christian or not, you are always welcome to join us. We know you will be an encouragement to us, and we trust we will be to you!

After the Referendum 1 August 2016

The last few weeks have felt like a whirlwind. Our vote to leave the EU has exposed the divisions in our society between young and old, rich and poor, educated and uneducated. For some, we have an unparalleled opportunity to shape our destiny; for others, our country’s future is frightening and uncertain. What can Christians make of it all?

As with any political campaign, there were Christians on both sides of the argument in the Referendum. For Christian ‘Leavers’, the EU had departed from its original economic mandate, making too many decisions for us while proving incapable of providing leadership in a crisis: just look at the uncertain response to the refugee situation. For Christian ‘Remainers’, we are stronger as a nation when we are part of something greater than ourselves, even where that organisation is far from perfect.

The first weeks after the Referendum have shown us good and bad things about Britain. We are resilient and practical: we have a new government and a new Prime Minister much more quickly than anyone expected; we have leadership and direction, whether you like it or not. We also have a tendency to turn on the outsider in moments of panic; both the rise in racist violence and the bile and intimidation coming from some political campaigners is very ugly to witness.

Whoever we voted for, Christians prayed, ‘Your kingdom come, your will be done’ before the Referendum. We trust that the result is God’s will for our country and we commit to working to find positive ways forward. Above all, we believe that ‘all things work together for good for those who love God.’ (Romans 8:28)

'The youth of today...!' 1 July 2016

‘Young people today…’ How would you end that sentence? Our media often casts teenagers as sinister figures, hanging around in hoodies, smoking and doing other generally unsavoury things.

If you know any young people, I hope you will agree this is not a very accurate or helpful image. The teens I know are polite, optimistic, community spirited individuals. Research suggests that the generation of young people currently leaving school are less drunk and promiscuous than the previous generation.

The world our young people inhabit has become a good deal more complicated over the last two decades. The internet has brought huge benefits to the way they study and work – for example, why learn endless facts by rote when you can look them up on Wikipedia? It has also brought hard-core pornography into vulnerable children’s hands, effectively telling them lies about what constitutes intimacy and healthy relationships. Social media can be a great blessing, but it also exposes them to cyberbullying and the fantasy world of ISIS and any other crank with a cause. When I was a teen, if I wanted porn I had to take the nerve-wracking trip to the top shelf of a newsagent; if I was being bullied then I would be safe when I arrived home and shut the door. These days it’s all in your hands via your smartphone or tablet, 24 hours a day: there’s no escape.

It’s always been a daunting task to be a parent. Parents need a huge amount of support as they help their children to navigate this brave new world. One organisation which has two thousand years of experience in helping parents is the church. Here is a place where we share our struggles and where children and parents find a whole community of people at every age and stage of life who can help them. As the African proverb goes, ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ – as a community, we all have roles to play. The Bible says, ‘Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray.’ (Proverbs 22:6) How can you pray for and support the young people and parents you know? 

God save the Queen! 31 May 2016

This June we mark the official 90th birthday of Her Majesty the Queen with special events here in Lightwater and all over the country. As the tributes have rolled in, there can be no doubt that this remarkable Christian woman has had an immeasurable influence on our country. But have you considered how much her strong Christian faith has affected her reign?

According to her biographer William Shawcross, two things stand out about the Queen: her sense of duty and her devotion to God. In her own Foreword to the new book The Servant Queen and the King she serves, she writes about her request in her first Christmas broadcast in 1952 that her subjects pray for her. ‘I have been – and remain – very grateful to you for your prayers and to God for His steadfast love. I have indeed seen His faithfulness.’

The Queen has worked more than 50 hours a week for most of her life; now, at the age of 90, she still does more than 40. There are no reliably recorded incidents of her refusing to undertake a duty that has been asked of her, losing her temper or using bad language. In her very personal Christmas messages she has frequently talked about the difference her faith in Jesus has made.

At All Saints’ we’ll be celebrating the Queen’s 90th birthday over the weekend of 11–12 June. On the Saturday we’ve got a fantastic barn dance with an excellent band. On Sunday we’ve got a celebration service at 10am with a brilliant guest speaker and groups for all ages, followed by a street party. If you want to get hold of the book The Servant Queen and the King she serves, a beautifully put together, illustrated account of the Queen and her Christian faith, we’ll be happy to give you a free copy on the Sunday. I hope to see you during the celebrations!

I never knew the church did that! 3 May 2016

How much do you know about what your local church actually does? Lots of people think churches are only open on Sundays, but there’s much more to our work than that! We are the parish church for everyone in Lightwater – yes, everyone, whether or not you’ve ever been to a service. We’re part of the Church of England, one of the only organisations in the country with a branch in every community. The building’s doors are open and our church family is active seven days a week.

We are here for you when things are going well – for celebrations in life like weddings or anniversaries. We’re here for you when things aren’t going so well – in times of illness or struggle, we have a team of people who are happy to meet up and talk.

We are here for you when life has ended – whether you want to organise a funeral at a crematorium or in church, or if you’d just like to talk to someone (even if you were bereaved some time ago), we can help. We are here for you when life has begun – to celebrate a birth and start your child’s journey of faith with a thanksgiving or christening. We offer flexible, practical and friendly help whatever your situation.

We are here for you when you’ve run out of ideas, when you need fresh insight or inspiration. People are often surprised that what they hear in church is relevant to their everyday lives. We are here for you when you’ve got something to share – people of all ages and stages of life contribute fully to our life together.

We are here for you when no one else is. Everyone needs a bit of support sometimes. If you don’t need it right now, you will in the future. We will always provide a listening ear without judgement, whatever your situation, and we are happy to pray with you if you wish.

Our vision is to be ‘The light of Christ in Lightwater’ – to be, to love, to tell. How can we be here for you this month?

Prayer: why can't we admit how hard it is? 3 May 2016

‘I find it hard to pray, and I’m paid to pray!’ A former vicar of mine used to say this. Prayer is difficult – even very established Christians agree.

How you relate to God depends on your personality, so there’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach for prayer. If you think you have to kneel down by your bed at the same time every day, think again! In his excellent book Sacred Pathways, Gary Thomas outlines nine different personality traits, which each influence how you pray. Some people meet God when they are surrounded by nature: up a hill or on a bike ride. Others go into a bare room in stillness and silence and find God. Many encounter God through ritual; a church service or using liturgy or special words by yourself. You might find God speaks to you through your senses – in music, food, even smell. For others, being active, campaigning or helping others helps them.

If you want to start praying, pray more or pray better, think about a time when you’ve felt particularly close to God. Where were you? What were you doing? What does that suggest about how you relate to God? What can you replicate?

Another tip: don’t try to do too much. Focus on one thing which will take you a step on from where you are now. Take a step forward on your spiritual journey. If the only quiet moment you ever get is in the car or on the train, download an audio Bible or some music. Have a notebook to use as a journal as God speaks to you. And ask God: he longs for people to come closer to him. If you ask him for a deeper relationship with him, he’ll always say yes.

2 March 2016 - When the going gets tough, the tough...go shopping?

As a UK citizen in 2016 I have no end of opportunities to go shopping. There are shops in my village, some open seven days a week. There are large stores within a 15-minute drive. If I’m getting stuck, I can go online and order just about anything, anytime, getting it delivered to my door when it suits me.

Yet there is pressure on many people to work more, and harder, at the weekends. Junior doctors have been on strike over weekend working. Shop staff are nervous about government plans to liberalise Sunday trading; many come under pressure to work on Sundays already, whether or not they choose to.

Humans have a built-in pattern of work and rest; it’s very healthy to have a day or two of rest at the end of a busy week. The Bible sets this up in its very first chapter, Genesis 1: a sensible pattern which is about 3,500 years old.

As someone who works a six-day week including Sundays, I know how hard it can be to carve out vital time to relax with my family and friends. It is right to protect this time, to fight for it if necessary when it comes under threat. I think it is also right to question whether we really need more hours to go shopping. Is it really a pain that shops are shut by Sunday early evening? Would our economy really benefit from longer hours?

This month Christians all over the world will remember Holy Week, culminating in Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I think it’s a shame that Good Friday has become a shopping day like any other, when in the Christian calendar it is one of the most crucial days of the year, when God’s son suffered and died to rescue us. Whether or not you’re a Christian, it’s important to take regular time out to remember the important things in life. I hope this Easter you’ll use those four wonderful days for things of lasting value.

1 February 2016 - A hidden Lightwater gem

You will no doubt agree that the Church Hall attached to All Saints' is a vital part of village life, and at some time or another you will have crossed its threshold be it to vote, have a flu jab, have babies weighed, take part in Guiding, been members of either W I, Darby and Joan or both, enjoyed many a child’s party or taken part in the many dance and fitness classes that take place weekly. These are just a few of the activities that take place year on year and were I to list everything, there would be so many that I would be in danger of becoming boring. It is fair to say that all the residents of Lightwater are aware of the Church Hall whether they use it or not.

What isn’t so well known is the little gem which is situated above the Parish Office and known as the Challen Room. Some 20 or so years ago a very long-term, loyal member of All Saints' named Kitty Challen died and left the Church a large sum of money, enabling the Parish Office to be built with a small meeting room above.    

Over the years the room has been hired out for small groups and is used by our own Sunday children’s groups but whilst in conversation it does seem that generally people aren’t aware of its existence. It is a lovely stylish cosy room which has recently had a new carpet fitted making it an ideal place for small groups, meetings and receptions.    It comfortably holds between 25 and 30 people and has an integral kitchen with tea making facilities and a supply of crockery and cutlery. Check out our Hall hire page for pictures and details.

Over the next few years the main hall is being updated and, along with the Challen Room, we are very pleased to be able to offer to the residents of Lightwater well appointed facilities at reasonable rates. Should you wish to hire either of our roomsyou can book either by telephone, a visit to the Parish Office or via the website.       

1 February 2016 - The power of prayer

When I pray, stuff happens. Prayer works! And God is always full of surprises.

At All Saints’, our vision for 2016 is ‘Go deeper with God’ – prayer is at the centre of this. Research tells us that the number of people who pray is far larger than the number in church each Sunday. Almost everyone prays occasionally, from hours spent alone with God through to a swift ‘Oh, God!’ when a car swerves ahead of you.

Prayer is a conundrum – if God knows what we will ask for, why do we need to pray? But in the Bible God urges his people to pray; it’s a vital part of having a relationship with him. He is described as a perfect, loving father, who longs to give his children the good things they ask for. He is an almighty God for whom anything is possible. He wants us to know him better and to share his heart for other people.

So how could you take a next step in prayer this year? What one thing could you do to make a difference to your relationship with God? You could try finding something to help you: an app, perhaps, like 3-Minute Retreat or PrayerMate. There are lots of great books about prayer; my current favourites are Prayer by Timothy Keller and Did You Think to Pray? by R.T. Kendall. You could just pick up a Bible (or download one) and turn to the Psalms – the prayer book at the centre of the Bible, or find some of God’s promises, or look at how different people have prayed (we’re looking at this in our Sunday services until Easter).

There is no set way to pray; nowhere is an unsuitable place. Everyone has a different ‘prayer personality’ – some people relate to God outdoors, others in a church service, others in a bare room. If what you’re doing isn’t connecting, try something new! 

1 January 2016 - Happy New Year!

A few months ago, All Saints’ Church launched its three vision projects. Over the next two to three years we aim to provide better access into our church building, fully refurbish our hall and rework our ministry to the wider community in Lightwater. The start of a new year is a good opportunity to update you on our progress.

By the end of February we will have an architect working on the entrance to church. His brief is to design ramped access which will allow anyone with mobility issues to get in and out of church easily. This will be good news for senior adults, disabled people and those with young children. If there is a relatively simple solution it should be possible to do the work this year, making it easier than ever to come into our lovely building.

The team working on our hall refurbishment has already had a full consultation with hall users and church members, and has detailed, costed plans for the work. We plan to do this in phases, to enable us to apply for external funding. The first priority is to install a new kitchen and replace our toilets; we hope to be able to do these at the same time to minimise disruption, but we do not know exactly when this will happen. We also plan to replace all our doors, including putting automatic ones at the entrance; we will put a stairlift into our upstairs Challen Room and rework our two back rooms to provide a children’s and youth hub for our church work.

We also have a team thinking and praying about our wider mission to our village. This year this will develop into a series of small groups thinking about people who we struggle to reach at the moment, and coming up with new ideas for ministry. I think this will lead us into some very exciting new places as the church at the centre of Lightwater life.

Of course, our buildings are not the focus of our ministry, but they are the biggest physical asset we have as a church, and it is right to invest in them, so that we can continue to make the best use of them. Very early in the New Year we hope to unveil our new signage and floodlighting – we hope this will make us more welcoming than ever. How far will we get before the other new Lightwater buildings get finished at Tesco, the Country Park and Recreation Ground? Watch this space!

1 December 2015 - This Christmas, give something special

How much do you spend on an average Christmas present? Could your money go a bit further this year?

Here in Surrey Heath we are very wealthy by comparison to most of the world. Most of our households here in Lightwater have far more than we need. Yet we live near people who lack the basic necessities of life.

So will you consider giving a Christmas present to charity this year? It’s easy: just take the average amount you spend on a gift and give it to a charity of your choice. I guarantee it will make a bigger difference than many of the gifts you give.

If you’re not sure where to start, Camberley Besom give out hundreds of packs of food and toiletries to families in need each year. The Church Army deals with disadvantaged young people and ex-offenders struggling to integrate into society in communities all over England. Looking further afield, CMS supports Christian projects in some of the most challenging countries in the world. EducAid Sierra Leone works in one of the poorest countries in the world, providing life-transforming education for as little as £165 per child per year. At All Saints’ these are all organisations we have supported this year.

This year all our Christmas collections at All Saints’ will be donated to Embrace the Middle East, whose work includes supporting refugees who have fled Syria and Iraq. The biggest humanitarian crisis since World War Two is happening on our doorstep to people just like us. Even a small gift will make a difference to someone in need.

At Christmas we remember that our almighty God, the creator of the universe, became a vulnerable child, suffering and struggling in life just like we do. Come and celebrate with us in your own way, whether your Christmas will be loud and full of fun, or quiet and reflective – we have something for you. Give God some time in this busiest season – as you come near to him, he will come near to you.

A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you!

2 November 2015 - So farewell then, Budgens Lightwater...

The largest shop in the village has closed its doors for the last time, and will be in the process of being refitted to make way for our brand new Co-Op.

Budgens has been an important part of our village life over the years. It is a leading local employer. It supports other local businesses rather than undercutting them. Proprietor Mike Duffy has held the franchise for the store for the last ten years, and has become a familiar figure in Lightwater. I want to thank Mike for his commitment to our community and his tireless work. He has a real heart for our village and we will be sad to see him go. Setting up George’s Coffee Shop made a huge difference to the heart of Lightwater. Mike has been involved in all sorts of things seen and unseen, from the Lightwater Business Association to helping kids with their reading at Lightwater Village School. I hope this won’t be the end of his association with the village; I notice the old Barclay’s site is still available, and who knows what other opportunities will arise in the future?

One of the things which makes Lightwater such a nice place to live is the strength of its community. This is built on relationships – it’s the personal touches which make a difference, like when people stop to speak to each other in the street. It’s no accident that the successful organisations in the village are the ones which promote good relationships, whether they are schools, businesses or voluntary organisations.

People are built to be in relationship with each other; it’s part of what it means to be made in the image of God. God himself is a relationship – he is Father, Son and Holy Spirit – three faces of the same God, which relate to each other. He has built us to be in relationship with him; no wonder, then, that humans make the most sense when we are in good relationships with each other.

I hope to catch up with many of you this All Saints’ Day (celebration service on 1 November), Remembrance Sunday on 8 November and then our Christmas services next month. 

7 September 2015 - Responding to the refugee crisis

Over the last few months it has become clear that Europe faces a refugee crisis unparalleled since the end of World War Two. The ongoing conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, and the instability in Eritrea, have led to millions of people being displaced. People just like us have had to flee their homes in fear for their lives. If we do not help them, who will?

In the last few days an amazing thing has begun to happen. The people of Europe have responded to the need in amazing ways. Hundreds of ordinary Germans and Austrians have driven to the Hungarian border to pick up refugees. British families have contacted their local councils to offer accommodation. 

All Saints' is partnering with Gossip Girls in Surrey and Berkshire to collect emergency supplies for Syrian refugees. You can drop things into our Parish Office 9.30am-noon every weekday until 18 September. Read on for more information about this campaign.

We are also calling on the people of Lightwater to consider whether you can offer room in your home on a temporary basis to help a refugee. During previous crises in Vietnam and Uganda churches provided safe havens for those who had to flee their homes. Now we have an opportunity to show God's love to those in need. Jesus himself fled for his life as a baby; God calls us to help the stranger in need. Please get in touch with me if this is something you can consider.

Gossip Girls in Surrey and Berkshire unite to support Syrian refugees - press release

Prompted by the devastating photo of three-year old Aylan Kurdi washed up on a beach in Turkey, a group of local women have joined forces to help raise funds and collect supplies in support of Syrian refugees.

United under the Gossip Girls for Refugees banner, the five women from Ascot, Maidenhead and Camberley have been working to promote their efforts on social media with their Facebook page attracting over 1,200 supporters in just three days.

The group is focusing their efforts on the work of two key charities, Syria Relief and the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS).

Collections of essential supplies from canned food and clothes to sleeping bags and soap are currently being coordinated from eight drop off points in and around Slough, Maidenhead, Ascot and Camberley with many more individuals working to provide further drop offs from their own homes.

A first load of donations is scheduled to be delivered to Syria Relief’s base in Manchester early this week where it will join an emergency convoy of supplies to Hungary and the Greece-Macedonia border.

Further deliveries will be made to help fill one of several containers that the charity is planning to send to Syria itself before winter sets in.

Emily Highmore-Talbot from Gossip Girls for Refugees said: “Like so many others, we were just devastated to see the picture of little Aylan on that beach – it suddenly made the refugee crisis very real for all of us, particularly as many of us have children of our own.

“It’s been simply incredible to see so many people coming out in support of what we, and other similar groups in the area, are trying to do. We’ve got a good number of collection points across our patch but we know there are many more individuals from further afield who are arranging their own collections so they can get them over to us. We’ve also been inundated with offers of support from people offering to help out with transporting donations, designing promotional materials and printing to name just a few – it really has restored our faith in humanity.”

With an estimated 2,000 refugees a day attempting to flee Syria by boat, Gossip Girls for Refugees are also raising funds for MOAS, a search and rescue charity that is working to save thousands of refugees from stricken vessels in the Mediterranean Sea.

To find out more about the campaign, donate or get involved, go to www.facebook.com/gossipgirlsforrefugees

4 September 2015 - Back to school - our Curate writes

Going back to school after the summer holidays is always a special time: sharp new pencils, books with clean pages to write on, freshly painted classrooms, new teachers, new subjects and a new start. Refreshed from the summer break, children and staff are ready to begin the new school year. Anything seems possible and expectations are high! We wish our young people well and want to keep them in our prayers for a full and successful year.

For us at All Saints too, September offers a new beginning. We welcome Lucy Thomas, our new youth worker, who joins our team of volunteers working with children and young people. Several of our groups have taken a break over the summer and we look forward to starting some of those again. We will be supporting Lucy in looking at new possibilities over the coming year, such as youth groups, mentoring, workshops and other events. Watch this space!

There are many people in our local community who support our children and young people as they explore and enjoy a wide range of activities such as sport, music, dance and theatre. As a church, we are taking time this term to consider what we might uniquely offer our local schools, uniformed organisations and other young people’s groups. This past year we have been welcomed to lead assemblies, RE lessons, faith badges, Christmas services, church visits and special events. From your positive comments, we know these have been well received by children, parents and leaders. But what else might we do?  Perhaps you run a group, or have children who attend a club, and have an idea about how we might help and support you?

We are gathering and training a team of people who are willing and able to explore new initiatives. We are doing this because young people are important to us and to God. We take seriously the journey they are on to becoming independent adults. We would like to support young people as they discover their unique identity and purpose. As Christians, we value the Bible stories that show us what it means to be human, to be part of our world, and of a loving God who has good purposes for us all. As people of faith, we have our own personal stories of how the Christian faith shapes our lives. We believe we have something of value to share with young people, and we definitely have plenty to learn from them!

If you are interested in joining our team, sharing your ideas and thoughts, or want to ask more, please do get in touch. I would love to hear from you.

27 July 2015 - Talk about a taboo subject

Have you thought about what will happen to your loved ones after your death? What a morbid question for a summer column! But a surprising number of people have not spoken to their nearest and dearest about what arrangements they would like after their passing.

A good starting point is to make a will. I didn’t understand how important this was until I visited a solicitor to draw mine up. You may not have a penny to your name, but imagine if you die in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence: your estate could receive a huge amount of money in compensation. How will that money be divided up if you haven’t made a will? It might go in a number of directions, but you can guarantee that solicitors will end up with more of it than you’d like.

Talk to your loved ones about how you’d like them to mark your passing. Are you on the NHS Organ Donor Register and do your next of kin know? Do you want a religious service or something secular? Where would you like it to be held? Do you want your body to be buried or cremated? I meet a lot of grief-stricken people in my work; these are very difficult questions to think about if your loved one has not thought about them in advance.

There’s a national trend that fewer people are opting for a Christian funeral taken by a minister from their local church. This is such a shame, as many people have found huge comfort and support from All Saints’ and other local churches when they’re bereaved. You may be surprised by how flexible we are in planning services and what a kind community we provide for those grieving. After all, it is our God who promises comfort and peace to his people in tough times: ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me.’ (Psalm 23:4)

29 June 2015 - An inclusive church?

What sort of a welcome do you offer when someone comes to your home? A cup of tea? A nice meal? Recently I’ve been thinking about the subtle messages that people might take from the way All Saints’ Church communicates and the way our buildings are set up.

As a church we aim to be welcoming, friendly and inclusive; somewhere where you can be a part of God’s family, not an exclusive club for members only. Newcomers usually find us to be a friendly bunch; our services and other gatherings are places where we feel God’s presence and the human warmth which flows from that.

But when you’ve been part of a community for a while, it’s easy to miss the subtle ways that people can feel excluded. It’s a bit like moving into a new house: you only notice the cobwebs for the first six months. When I was at Vicar Factory one of the things I had to do was to go somewhere which was out of my comfort zone, where the rules were different. For some of my young, male colleagues, this meant getting their nails done. For me it was a visit to a betting shop (I’ve lived a sheltered life!). Just going through the door was a bit scary. Once inside, I didn’t know the rules. There were lots of men around (only men) who knew exactly what they were doing. The women behind the counter were helpful but I had to ask for help, which gave away the fact that I didn’t know what to do. In the end, several of us put some money on a horse called ‘Teach to Preach’, which romped home, leaving us the small problem of what to do with our winnings!

That experience helped me to understand what people might feel like when they first walk into church. There might be questions: how will I know what to do? Will I have to do things I don’t feel comfortable doing? Will other people judge me? Who would my friends be in this church? Most of us feel self-conscious in a new situation. This is particularly true if you look around the church and you don’t see other people who look a bit like you, who are at the same age and stage of life.

Over the next few months the leaders of our church have agreed to spend time looking carefully at a number of areas of our life together, to be guided by the principles of accessibility and inclusivity. Our buildings will be one focus. The entrance to church presents a challenge if you have mobility issues, as there are two steps up. We have a ramp which we can use, but it’s hard work to get it out and put it away. We need proper disabled access so that we don’t exclude anyone struggling with mobility. We’ll also be looking at upgrading our church hall to spruce it up and make it the best it can be.

It’s important that our buildings are inclusive, but the church isn’t the buildings; the church is the community of people who worship God together in our village. The church of All Saints Lightwater meets when we have coffee together in the Library on a Saturday morning; when we get together for homegroup meetings in each other’s homes; when we have meals together; when we bump into each other in Budgen’s. So another important focus of our work in the next few months will be what we can do to develop our work in the village outside our church buildings. If people who don’t know us can see what sort of a community we are, they will want to know more. The apostle Peter urged the early church to ‘Live such good lives’ among the non-believers in their communities, that ‘they may see your good deeds and glorify God’ (1 Peter 2:12).

None of this means that anyone in the church is perfect. I often meet people who have been let down by people in the church family. I heard about someone who was passing by All Saints’ one Christmas morning when people were coming out of church. They said, ‘Merry Christmas!’ The person they spoke to didn’t respond. Perhaps they hadn’t heard them; maybe they were thinking about getting the turkey in the oven – what the greeter took away was that our church is an unfriendly community. This story was relayed to me many years after it happened. How someone feels at a moment like that is what they will remember, and people have long memories.

But the fact is that human beings do let each other down; we do it all the time and the church is not immune to this. Many outside the church think we are a community of shiny, happy people who have got things sorted. That’s a bit like thinking that when you visit the doctor’s surgery you’ll see a waiting room full of healthy people! No – the church is a group of broken people; it’s in this community that God puts us back together. Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’ (Mark 2:17)

So do tell us how we can be more accessible, more inclusive and reach more people. And if you’re one of the people we struggle to reach at the moment, tell us what more we can do. 

Youth work update

We’re delighted that Lucy Thomas is to be our new Youth Worker from 1 September. Lucy is just finishing a Christian youth work degree and comes from Woking. She comes with a wealth of valuable experience, knowledge and enthusiasm and we’re really looking forward to welcoming her, as she takes on the job of moving our work with 11s-18s forward.

One difficult decision we took as our previous Youth Worker Steph Butler left in April was to close our Friday night Youth Club after thirteen years. Youth Club offered a safe place for young people to let off steam at the end of the school week, with committed core leaders who were ‘always there for them’. Some of our young people have enjoyed it so much that they have come back to undertake Duke of Edinburgh service awards, and others have stayed and become young team leaders, learning skills for life. 

We’re so thankful for the work of Youth Club over the years. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank publically everyone who has given their time, energy and effort to make the club such a feature of so many young people’s lives. Two individuals stand out: Bruce Squair and Simone Miles, who have made a huge difference to a generation of our youth.

It’s also brilliant to see that there is really strong provision for our 9-13-year-olds across the Windle Valley, in youth clubs run by St John’s Church Windlesham and the Windle Valley Youth Project in Bagshot, as well as such a wide range of other activities in which they can participate. Our sense if that Lightwater is a more challenging place to be an older teen, so we will be looking at this as we think about the future of our work.

One of the things we’ll be thinking about when Lucy joins us is how best we can minister to the young people in Lightwater, using the resources we have. Please do get in touch with me if you’re interested in joining this discussion and being part of things in the future.

23 June 2015 - Managing our church's finances 

At our PCC Vision Day on Saturday 13 June we spent time thinking and praying about our Church’s finances. We are in the enviable position of having quite a large amount of money in the bank, through generous giving and sound financial management over many years. As a church it is vital that we meet our expenditure each year via the income we receive, regardless of any reserves. Our income and expenditure have been balanced for some time, so we are unlikely to need to dip into our reserves significantly for the foreseeable future. 

We believe God calls all his people to make the best use of the resources he provides. We also believe that God gives his church everything we need, in order to do the work to which he is calling us. It is certainly right that we should be wise stewards of our money, but it cannot be right to hold on to more than we should. 

Over the next two years we plan to release some of our reserves to further our mission of being ‘The light of Christ in Lightwater’ and our vision for 2015: God’s generosity. We think we might be able to release around £110,000 without compromising our finances. 

What reserves do we have? 

At the end of May we had £23,131 in our current account and £148,313 in our deposit account; a total of £171,444. Our average monthly income so far this year has been £14,170 and our average outgoings £13,069. (These will become more balanced after our new Youth Worker starts in September.) 

We currently have two restricted funds. These can only be spent on the specified things:

·         Youth work - £8,108 (this will be spent after our Youth Worker starts)

·         Welcome area - £2,780 (this must be spent on a project to improve the entrance to the Church)

We also have three designated funds. As a PCC we can decide to change or remove the designation of these funds:

·         Roof fund - £20,000 (this was set aside some years ago in case we need to replace the roof in future, but this fund would not cover the full cost of the work and there is no evidence that it will be necessary in the near future)

·         Reserve - £32,000 (as a registered charity we have to keep an amount in reserve, normally around three months’ outgoings, in case of emergency)

·         Bequest - £2,949 (left over from the legacy we used to repair the bells in 2013)

Two priorities emerged from our Vision Day: mission and accessibility.

·         Any projects we undertake need to be considered in the light of our mission to our village: to be the light of Christ in Lightwater.

·         We also want to make all our buildings and our work as accessible as possible, as we have a strong sense that some people are being excluded at the moment.

Projects we want to pursue 

We intend to form working parties to pursue two projects:

·         Redevelopment of the porch and choir vestry to improve access for all, including proper disabled access into the Church building (target date TBC). We intend to put the welcome area money and the remainder of the legacy towards this project.

·         Hall refurbishment and modernisation including a new kitchen, upgraded toilets, better disabled access, redecoration, doors and computer networking between the Hall and Church (target date summer 2016). It is likely that there will be some money available from Council and community funds to help with this work.

 We also intend to set aside a sum for mission. This will include:

·         Local mission (in and around the parish), which may include bringing in outside help and organising specific events or activities.

·         Giving to mission partners further afield, including encouraging stronger links with existing or potential partners, such as sending people from the Church on mission trips.

All our ministries will be offered the opportunity to find smaller items of expenditure which will improve them. We are also going to consider improving the screens in Church. 

What happens next? 

The most important thing all of us can do is pray. We are going to organise some specific opportunities to commit our plans to the Lord. We need project managers for the porch and hall projects, and small task teams to plan and deliver the work. We also need a team to consider how best to take forward our local mission. Is God calling you to be part of one of these teams? If so, please talk to me or any member of the PCC about it. 

Before our next PCC meeting at the end of September, we would like to have all our teams in place, so that we can have preliminary budgets and time-lines prepared by the end of November. We will also organise a professional assessment of our Church roof so that we can decide whether to release the roof fund. 

We came out of our Vision Day excited about the work God is doing and wants to do through All Saints’, but as yet we have not taken any decisions. Do pray and talk to PCC members and share your thoughts over the summer. If you are part of a ministry that would benefit from some extra funding or you can see things that could be improved by spending a little money please let the PCC know.

23 June 2015 - Parish Office update

As the PCC (church council) discussed the Office in 2014, we worked hard to try to find people who might be prepared to replace Pam Newman and Valerie Barnard on an unpaid basis. It seemed at the time that there was no one in our church family who would fit the bill, especially given the brilliant work of Pam and Valerie over so many years. However, our churchwarden David Hawkins was willing to step into running the Office in January, getting it ready for us to employ a paid Parish Administrator, which we aimed to do after Easter this year. 

David has been doing a terrific job reorganising the Office and has also been exploring his sense of God’s calling to be in there on a longer-term basis. At the same time, his fellow churchwarden Jackie Gray has recently retired from her job; Jackie heads up our Hall Committee and was already planning to take on the administration of the Hall. Recently David and Jackie spoke to me about the possibility of them sharing the work of the Parish Office, with David doing three mornings per week and Jackie two mornings a week from September 2015. In the meantime David will be in the Office five mornings per week. David and Jackie have both given this a great deal of prayerful consideration and it is not an arrangement either of them had in view until the early part of this year. 

I am extremely grateful to David and Jackie for being prepared to step up to this work. I’m delighted that, at our meeting on 12 June, the PCC decided to endorse David and Jackie as our new Office team from September. Of course, this arrangement was not part of our original plan; however, I have a strong sense that God has shown us another way. In my experience God sometimes gets his people to go in one direction only to intervene so that they change tack before they reach their destination. I think this is one of those times. 

David and Jackie bring a great deal to the work of the Office. David’s career in the police force, his range of experience since, Jackie’s commercial experience and the pastoral skills they both have, are already proving invaluable. Our new plan for the Office will save All Saints’ around £7,000 per year, which is money we can now use for other ministry. The PCC is committed to making sure the Office is properly resourced and that David and Jackie have any training which may be necessary. I hope you will agree that this is a really good solution for All Saints’. 

30 March 2015 - Election fever grips nation!

Someone told me there's a General Election coming up. You'd think they'd have mentioned it on the news!

Christians are sometimes nervous about getting involved in politics. When church leaders speak up, they risk being shouted down or condemned as partisan. When the bishops of the Church of England wrote a thoroughly sensible, well thought through ‘letter’ about the election a few weeks ago, the media zeroed in on a tiny number of MPs who condemned it out of hand without actually reading it. (It’s 56 pages long, so not like any letter I’ve ever written!) As you might expect, it took a few days for more sensible analysis to emerge.

It’s peculiar to think that God might want to stay out of any area of life. ‘The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it’ says Psalm 24:1. Some of the key themes in the Bible are God’s commitment to justice, his concern for how we look after the most vulnerable in society, how we use the resources he gives us. All our major political parties were founded with Christian values at their centre, and today each one has a very active Christian group. Jesus is not a party politician; it’s offensive to say that God’s people have to vote any particular way. Christians need to pray, get involved and stand for office, not just carp on the sidelines or sign petitions.

Decisions are made by people who turn up. If you don’t vote, you are giving up your right to make decisions about the future of our country. There is so much cynicism around our politics – we look at the parties and we don’t know what they stand for any more. We remember the expenses scandal and are left with the impression that politicians are all on the make and the take.

But when you engage with our elected representatives, from MP down to parish councillor, you generally find people who work incredibly hard; men and women who are dedicated to serving the public. The tragedy of the expenses scandal is that the actions of 35 MPs affected our attitude to all 650, and to elected officials in general. The difficulty of our 24-hour news culture is that the ‘rent-a-quote’ MP is often the first to have a say, and their comments have a disproportionate effect on the news agenda.

So engage, think, pray and have your say on 7 May. And in the meantime, a very happy Easter!

1 March 2015 - If there’s a God who loves us, why is there so much suffering in the world?

This question, phrased in different ways, is the one I hear most from people inside and outside the church. David Attenborough watched a tiny worm burrow through a child’s eye, blinding that child permanently, and decided he could never have faith in God. In January we commemorated 70 years since the liberation of Auschwitz. Its buildings remain as a memorial of 6 million killed in the Holocaust; a reminder of what human beings can do to each other given the chance.

From natural disaster to human cruelty, suffering raises big questions, far more than I can address at the front of Roundabout. But Christians do have something to say about suffering. And what we have to say may surprise you.

This month we have two options if you’d like to explore the theme of suffering. We’ve got a fantastic guest speaker at All Saints’ Church: Bishop Michael Baughen, former Bishop of Chester, who’s written a book on the subject: The One Big Question. He’s speaking at our services on Sundays 8 and 29 March; one talk spread over two Sundays at our 9am and 10.45am services. You will not hear someone better qualified or more experienced in grappling with these issues. You can even pick up his book at a discount afterwards!

Or you might want to talk and not just listen. We’re starting a course about life’s big questions on Thursday 5 March; it’s called Glad You Asked and it’s for anyone, Christian, spiritual seeker or just looking, who wants to explore things more. It’s a really safe place to talk. You’ll hear Christian perspectives from a range of thinkers on a DVD, but no one will try to convert you. Do join us if you can.

Everyone experiences suffering – you are kidding yourself if you think your comfortable Surrey life will help you when someone you love gets ill or something terrible happens which you can’t fix. You’d be amazed at what people you know have gone through, or are going through right now. Why not take the time this month to see what God has to say about these things?

6 February 2015 - Did Anne Boleyn have it coming?

If, like me, you like costume drama, you’ll be glued to Wolf Hall at the moment. The story of the rise and fall of King Henry VIII’s second wife Anne Boleyn is compelling. If your grasp of sixteenth-century history is a little shaky, you’ll be reaching for Wikipedia as you watch! (Which wife is which? ‘Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived…’) As we look forward to this year’s general election, the story reminds us that little has changed in the corridors of power, although the new leader of the opposition in May probably won’t have his head cut off!

The tragedy of Anne Boleyn is that she sowed the seeds of her own destruction in her rise to power. She moved from being the King’s mistress to unseating his popular Queen, Catherine of Aragon. Once she was queen, Boleyn discovered that she had made her own position vulnerable – without a male heir, there was no escaping the idea that the Queen could be removed, an idea which she had fostered. And removed she was, accused of adultery with several men including her own brother and beheaded, leaving the King to father a male heir with his next wife, the even more short-lived Jane Seymour.

Perhaps Anne Boleyn reaped what she sowed. Hers certainly wasn’t the last marriage to be built on decidedly shaky foundations. The sad truth about adultery is that it often proves to be a hard habit to break, even when the mistress becomes the wife.

The idea of karma, that ‘what goes around, comes around’ is very appealing. Sometimes this is how the world works. I can think of funerals I have taken where you just need to look around the packed church to see the good things a deceased person has left behind. I can think of others where there was a real mess, or a lack of any meaningful relationships. Today you may find you are paying the cost of mistakes you made a long time ago. These things can be very hard to resolve.

The good news is that God offers a fresh start to anyone who seeks him. This doesn’t mean an escape from the things you’ve done wrong, some kind of spiritual ‘Get out of jail free’ card. It means forgiveness and new life, even if your human relationships can’t ever be healed. Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.’ (Matthew 11:28) That’s great news: if you’re weighed down by the mess you’ve made of your own life, there is someone who can help.

2 January 2015 - Happy New Year!

It’s January, which means you can’t open a magazine without reading a ‘New Year, new you!’ article peddling the latest fad diet to shift the Christmas flab. And it’s the start of something new for us at All Saints’ Church too; something a bit more significant.

For nearly 20 years our Parish Office has been run by a dedicated service team, each of whom has given their time freely. This month our two administrators, Pam and Valerie, are retiring, and our churchwarden David will begin a three-month reorganisation of the Office. It’ll be open for business as usual during this time, and we plan to employ a paid administrator by the end of April.

Good administration is key to the success of any organisation. It’s about making sure everything runs smoothly, things happen when they are supposed to and work well. Our Parish Office is about running a tight ship, but also about being a friendly presence in our village. And it frees up the ministry team at All Saints’ to do our work, rather than spending all our time on admin.

I’d love to invite you to a special service and tea to celebrate and give thanks to God for the work of the Parish Office team at 3pm on Sunday 25 January. It’s important that we recognise the unique contribution of our dedicated team.

In these days of targets and performance indicators, it’s worth reflecting on how God measures success. He looks at your faithfulness – it’s your effort and intention which are more important than the end results. Of course, God’s work is in his hands – all any of his people can do is work faithfully for him. Sometimes we’ll see amazing results – lives changed by encounters with God; but often you sow the seeds and never see the plants grow. I heard recently about a man who became a Christian aged over 100; some 85 years earlier he had heard a school assembly which he never forgot. The man who took that assembly was long gone, but his faithful work still bore fruit.

As we say thank you for faithful service this month, may we each hear those words from God one day: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!’ (Matthew 25:21)

1 December - Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

I hope you are well and gearing up for your busiest time of year. Here is my Christmas list for 2014. I have done my best to be a good boy this year – you can check with my churchwardens if you like.

I’d really like a Lotus – you may have trouble getting this down the chimney I suppose. If you can’t get it on your sleigh then you could give an elf a treat and ask them to drive it here.

I wouldn’t mind another talking Dalek to be a friend for Doris the Dalek, who helps me with my school assemblies. Sadly this year I dropped Doris on the floor and she hasn’t spoken to me since. I think her talking mechanism might have broken, because if she was cross then she’d just have exterminated me. So a little friend who can speak would be good – I promise I’ll be more careful with it.

Santa, a few years ago someone got me one of those deals where they send you a posh box of chocolates every month. Another one of those would be nice.

I wanted to know a bit more about you, Santa, so I did what every self-respecting clergyman does when he wants to know something: I looked you up on Wikipedia. I discovered that Saint Nicholas was a bishop in Turkey in the fourth century. At a very important moment for the church, you stood up for the truth about Jesus: that he was both fully God and fully human. You had a reputation for giving little gifts to people secretly, which is what you’ve carried on doing, just on a rather larger scale these days.

I expect it’s always been difficult to stand up for the truth. It’s certainly hard for Christians in those bits of Iraq and Syria where IS has told them to flee their homes, convert to Islam or face death. It isn’t much fun for Christians in Gaza or the other Occupied Territories, and Christians in Lebanon have shouldered a huge burden of helping refugees. Santa, I hope you’ll reach those children – they could do with a present this year.

Please could you also get down to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia and give presents to the children who have been orphaned by ebola? I hear so much from our mission partners EducAid Sierra Leone about how hard it is for those kids right now.

Santa, thanks for reading this all the way through. Wishing you a very merry Christmas and happy and peaceful 2015 – as the angels said, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.’ (Luke 2:14)

God bless -

Mark

3 November - Remembering in 2014

It’s November and remembrance is in the air. On Bonfire Night we commemorate the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot, designed to bring down the state. On Remembrance Sunday we remember those who have died serving our country. This year Remembrance Sunday has special significance as we mark the centenary of the start of the First World War.

During my lifetime the final surviving veterans of World War One have died. This year we saw what will be the last major commemoration of D-Day as the youngest veterans from that conflict are well into their nineties. But just as we remember the Gunpowder Plot over 400 years on, there is something vitally important about our remembrance of the world wars too, especially for the generations who did not live through them. It’s been brought home by our forces who have seen active service in Afghanistan and Iraq over the last decade. Our freedom and our way of life were bought with a price. Men and women sacrificed their lives so that we could live in peace.

World War One was dubbed ‘The war to end all wars’. One of the saddest things about the last hundred years has been how inaccurate that phrase turned out to be. Just 20 years after the armistice we faced the unparalleled, industrialised slaughter and genocide of World War Two. Since 1945 we have faced conflicts all over the world: Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sudan, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, India, Pakistan, Israel…the list goes on. The combined human suffering is incalculable.

All human conflict has its roots in our desire to see certain groups of people as ‘other’. We choose to hate and reject our fellow human beings because of their nationality, class, religion or way of life. The horrific actions of ‘Islamic State’ in Iraq and Syria reflect this hatred of those who are ‘other’, a hatred rejected by the vast majority of Muslims.

Jesus said, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ (Matthew 19:19) Remembrance Sunday reminds us of the ultimate consequences of human failure to do that. It’s not just something you remember; it’s something you live – a choice you make every day. It’s the choice to put another person’s needs ahead of your own, to put yourself out for someone else. Please join us in All Saints’ Church or Hall on Sunday 9 November as we remember and pledge ourselves to something better.

9 October 2014 - Saying 'Thank you'

One of my bugbears is when people don’t say thank you. In the car, you stop at a crossing to let someone across and they don’t smile or say thanks. Or you wait to let another car go past you, without so much as a flash of lights or a raised hand. Or at work, you go out of your way to help someone with something and they don’t show their gratitude. Of course, I’ve done all these things myself!

Saying thank you is also something many church ministers are surprisingly bad at. You would think that an organisation which is reliant on the time, energy and goodwill given freely by its members would be somewhere which is naturally grateful for the hard work they do. But time and again I have met people in churches who have never been thanked for what they do. With any kind of service, you don’t do it to be thanked, but a little bit of appreciation goes a long way.

If we struggle to say thank you to one another, it’s no wonder we are not very good at saying it to God. Fortunately Harvest is the ideal opportunity to thank God for what he has given. Traditionally a community would come together as the harvest was brought in from the fields to thank God and offer him what they had received. These days we are less connected to the land, which makes it all the more important to say thank you.

This goes alongside prayer and other practical help for those in need. It is no accident that it is churches who have been behind the boom in food banks in our towns. At All Saints’ we support Camberley Besom all year round, with our harvest gifts going to local homes and refuges. If you are thankful for what you have, you will want to help others who have less than you.

Lots of the Psalms begin, ‘O give thanks to the Lord.’ Join us for Harvest on 4–5 October and help us to do just that. And I pray each day for a heart which says thank you to God and to others for their kindness.

14 September 2014 - You're invited!

As the nights are drawing in and the summer holidays are over, I always think it’s good to have something to look forward to! At All Saints’ we pride ourselves on the warm welcome we offer – I don’t think most people realise how friendly and supportive our church community is. And so you are warmly invited to…

Our Harvest Festival – both our Harvest Supper on Saturday 4 October and our services at 9am and 10.45am on Sunday 5 October. It’s the time where we get together and say thank you to God for providing everything we need. Our Harvest Supper is a real family event complete with great food and entertainment – contact the Parish Office for more details.

…and Grill a Christian – the chance to ask a panel of Christian leaders anything you like. This has become a termly fixture in our church calendar – we’re back for more at 6pm Sunday 5 October. You may well have an issue where you really need an answer or you just want to see what a group of Christians will have to say. Nothing is off limits so do join us and ask away!

…and Remembrance Sunday – this year we mark the centenary of the start of the First World War, and have a number of special things in the pipeline. Make sure Sunday 9 November is in your diary – we’ll be having our usual two parallel services: an informal one for families and uniformed organisations in our Church Hall and the other more traditional one in Church, followed by the traditional act of remembrance at the War Memorial.

Last but not least, do join us on Sunday at 9am for our traditional Holy Communion service or at 10.45am for our Morning Worship with groups for children and young people. If you’re expecting church to be stuffy, cliquey and unfriendly, you’ll be in for a very nice surprise.

30 July 2014 - Happy holidays!

I love a good holiday. The chance to kick back and spend time with family and friends, to soak up the sun and enjoy good food and drink somewhere away from home. Whether you’re by the sea or the pool, staying in a tent or a hotel, two hours from home or a long-haul flight, there’s something very special about getting away from it all.

This year I plan not to go online, read emails, tweet or update Facebook when I’m on holiday. And I think it’s a shame that anyone would stay in touch with work while they’re away, barring genuine emergencies. There are very few work situations which can’t manage without you for a week or two. Is it really possible to rest if you’re preoccupied with work? Many people in Surrey work incredibly hard, sometimes in high-earning jobs with a lot of responsibility; this doesn’t give you an excuse to stay online constantly – rather it makes it much more important that you can really switch off.

Human beings are very complicated things. If we came with an instruction booklet, you would see quite prominently a section about rest. We are not built to work until we drop, to put in 15-hour days and be in the office all weekend. There is a pattern of work and rest which is healthy; if you deviate too far from this, you will break down both mentally and physically. Perhaps you know someone who’s suffered from burnout – it’s debilitating and the effects are long-lasting.

One way to think of the Bible is as God’s instruction booklet for how to live the best life. And right at the start of the Bible is God’s model of a healthy life. When God creates the world in Genesis 1, the first chapter in the Bible, he does all the work of creation in six days and rests on the seventh. That’s why we have weekends – humans need at least a day per week to rest. The same chapter tells us we are made in God’s image – humans have intrinsic value. We are not just the sum of our achievements; we are human beings, not human doings.

So if you’re having a holiday, I hope you have a great time, switch off and make the most of it – and don’t spend too long staring at a tiny screen!

15 July 2014 - Women bishops at last

Congratulations to General Synod for finally passing legislation to admit women as bishops. This has felt like an inevitability for so many years; it's great news that the Church of England has found a solution which seems to suit the vast majority of members.

One of the things that shocked me back in November 2012, when the last legislation was rejected, was the stark reality of what General Synod was like. It was built on a parliamentary model, which encouraged a partisan, confrontational atmosphere. Representatives didn't speak to those whose views put them in a different 'party'. It all seemed very alien to the usual civilised realm of the CofE. Surely here was an institution in severe need of a new approach?

Thank God we have in Justin Welby an Archbishop of Canterbury who doesn't run away from conflict but is well versed in tackling it. In the last 21 months we've seen 'facilitated discussions' where people from different views have, for the first time, been able to get to know each other and start to listen to the full range of views, rather than just trying to shout each other down. Local Synod representatives report a remarkable sea-change in the atmosphere. People are now able to appreciate the people behind the views. This is a huge step forward in a very short time and bodes well for the Church as it tackles the full range of tough issues over the coming years. Indeed, the Church's leadership seems to have lit the way for a new approach to our politics, if only our politicians could be such big people, which seems very unlikely.

It is notable that the legislation has not gained the support of complementarian conservative evangelicals and their grouping Reform. This group represents a large number of thriving churches and it would be a real mistake to ignore their concerns and attempt to marginalise them. As they have pointed out, any attempt to rebuild trust will take longer than 21 months. The promise that bishops will be appointed who hold a complementarian view is a good start, but it was made back in 2007 and since then no such bishops have been appointed, so Reform is quite justified in waiting to see whether the promise will be kept this time round. The appointment of a handful of such bishops (one on his own will be interpreted as a token gesture) seems an obvious next move; I hope some of the suffragen vacancies will go this way as it seems unlikely that any diocese will bite the bullet for the top job.

So there are good signs here both for our leadership and our way forward, which has rediscovered a good old-fashioned Anglican generosity. Let's hope this can be followed through so that everyone can stay on the train.

30 June 2014 - Football and more

I’m writing this from Copacabana Beach, where I’m sipping a margarita, waiting to go and see my next World Cup match. I wish! There’s no avoiding the World Cup at the moment – our media is going bonkers; our shops are full of merchandise; surely you must want to buy a new, even bigger TV? No? Then why not try a Brazilian-themed recipe to go with your game? No? Lager and crisps it is, then.

Sport brings people together in unusual ways. Other than the Olympics, I can’t think of a time when I would watch an evening of swimming on TV. I’m sure I’ll watch football matches this month with teams I’d never normally see. The beauty of the World Cup is that anything can happen on the day; the most unpromising team can have a chance of glory.

Big tournaments bring us into contact with humanity in all its diversity. Here you see a world far bigger than this little corner of Surrey suburbia. All sorts of people, each one unique and yet all similar in some ways, can enjoy the excitement and creativity of football, or at least the spectacle of an event which only happens every four years.

The greater truth behind this diversity is that each human has been made in God’s image, and each of us is loved greatly by our creator. So many people feel so unloved these days; loneliness is a modern epidemic. The cure is there in each other – in a strong community where you look after the more vulnerable, where you seek to embrace those different from yourself.

The Bible says, ‘if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.’ (1 John 4:12) So every kind word, every nice thing you do, every time you put someone else’s needs before your own, you reflect the love that God has for you. When you treat other people as you would like to be treated yourself, you show that same love. Just imagine if this could be repeated on the world stage. Especially if players feel tempted to bite each other...

2 June 2014 - new facilities in Lightwater - coming soon we hope!

So with the late, lamented hardware shop demolished, there is no sign yet of Tesco building on the site. It's a shame Tesco have not told the village anything about their plans. When they were proposing to open in Bagshot there was a public exhibition and consultation; not so here, where we have had to follow the official proceedings to find out what's happening. Over 1,000 people objected to Tesco's plans, about a quarter of the adults in Lightwater, so it's no wonder they might feel sore, but we'd love to know what's going on.

Work continues on the new, improved Post Office. Those of us who have run out of stamps and have parcels mounting up are looking forward to it reopening! We expect word of a confirmed date any day.

The new BP garage and M&S is making good progress - they had the courtesy to tell us as the work started that it will open on 11 July and we are excited about this!

But not as excited as we are about Lakeview, the new care home being built on Lightwater Road. It was great to meet the team behind it recently - I can't wait to see it, especially the cinema... As a church we're looking forward to a positive relationship serving the home and its residents.

1 June 2014 - Is Rev any good?

‘What do you think of Rev? Is it true to life?’ I’ve been asked this question numerous times in the last couple of months as series three of the popular sitcom has aired. And I’m happy to answer it: we love Rev in our house! And yes, it is very true to life – often painfully so. The characters are realistic and recognisable, and the situations ring very true. And it’s often very funny. For me it’s a much more real and less cosy world than the last popular sitcom set in church, The Vicar of Dibley.

Sadly, though, I found the latest series a bit of a let-down. I like my comedy to be funny, even if it’s making a point; I think Rev became driven by the events it wanted to portray, and forgot that they needed a few laughs. Important issues were featured: the implications for churches of equal marriage legislation were considered thoughtfully, and everyone came out very human. The difficult consequences of disciplinary action for clergy were handled very realistically. The problem with both of these situations was that it is hard to find the humour in them, and the programme didn’t manage to do so.

Like the makers of Rev, I keep in touch with a wide variety of church ministers, and some of the situations we find ourselves in are incredibly funny. I could tell you about a colleague who took a look at a bride’s wedding ring before the service, only to drop it down a grate; or another who forgot to turn up for a service. This is the stuff of rich and surprising comedy; I think one of the prerequisites of ordained ministry is not to take yourself too seriously.

Perhaps it was a focus on ‘big picture’ issues which hurt recent episodes of Rev, rather than the charm and silliness of the little things and funny people with whom ministers deal daily. But what the programme has always succeeded in doing is making its Vicar, Adam Smallbone, very human – not a larger-than-life Dawn French or other-worldly Derek Nimmo. Here is a real man in often very extraordinary situations, trying to hold on to his own faith in God while constantly facing distractions. If people can see that this is who their ministers are and these are the things with which they deal, then maybe Rev has done its job well.

25 April 2014 - looking forward to the Lightwater Village Fete on Saturday 10 May

Woo hoo! It’s Fete time in Lightwater – surely the highlight of the village’s year! It’s one of the few opportunities we have to come together as a community and there really is something for everyone, whether you like rugby, dance or music, or would rather have a cup of tea, pint, cake or pork sandwich.

For a city boy like me, it’s nice to be part of a village community like Lightwater. Where I grew up, in north London, we only really knew our immediate neighbours. I still find it depressing that no one speaks to each other on the Tube. A friend of mine has a trick to challenge this: buy a foreign-language newspaper and read it upside-down; people will be dying to say something but bound not to by social convention – their heads nearly explode and it’s very entertaining.

Lightwater, on the other hand, is a friendly, open place. No one has looked down on me for being a newcomer (and for some I’m still ‘the new Vicar’ after two years!); the village is quite used to new people, because it has always had them around. It’s easy to get into conversation at the shops or the street. There’s a good mixture of different types of people from various professions, ages and stages of life. We don’t keep up appearances; most of us are ‘what you see is what you get’.

This diversity is reflected in our church too. Here children bowl along with each other regardless of which school year they’re in; older people chat to younger; rich meets poor. I see people week by week with whom I have very little in common apart from a shared Christian faith – that’s a mark of a functioning church. We’re not a social club or a special interest group; we’re a community of people who know Jesus – he’s our mutual friend, if you like.

So I look forward to seeing you at the Fete, rain or shine. All Saints’ is running the bookstall, the tombola and the bouncy slide, so you can win, read and slide with us!