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Yes, today was the day that the Parish of Wilton with Fugglestone, and Netherhampton, and the Parish of Bemerton united to provide a connection that took us back to the George Herbert days.  I’m also reading the book entitled, If you see George Herbert on the Road, Kill Him! This aims to make it clear that the idealising of the GH methodology of ministry does nothing to help the contemporary parish priest, whose circumstances are very different indeed than the blessed George’s.

We started at St Peter’s Church Fugglestone, and enjoyed a 20 min talk by The Rev’d Dr John Gosling, sometime former Vicar of Stratford sub Castle, and Director of Continuing Ministerial Development for the diocese. John outlined the history of the church building and its immediate surroundings.  John reminded us that in fact Fugglestone ws the parish church in GH’s day, with Bemerton being the chapel of ease, and later church building.  It is really because Herbert lived in Bemerton, and was buried in the church there that the Bemerton tag seems to have carried more weight.  We then moved out of church and walked around to the main gate of Wilton House, where the Earl had kindly given permission for us to walk though the park and then out onto the Netherhampton Road, before walking through Quidhampton, and onto St John’s Church Bemerton where people stopped for some much appreciated tea and cake.  The group then walked a little further onto St Andrew’s Church in Bemerton, and a service of Evensong completed the journey.  At a couple of stops along our pilgrimage, the Rector of Wilton, Rev Mark Wood read to us from Herbert’s treasury of poetry.

We learned a great deal from our conversations, mostly speculating about the Saxon meanings of our travel route.  Fugglestone apparently mean Mr Bird’s Farm – from Fogel’s Ton, and Quidhampton means something like rubbish dump [don't tell the residents!] from the word quid [filthy]  We can’t be sure of course, but it made for some interesting thoughts as we walked.  The group of 35 or so, seemed to really enjoy each other’s company, and the walk offered some great view points, rarely seen, together with a perfect walking afternoon, with hazy sunshine and temperate breezes.  Perfect!

Saturday started with one of those memory flashbacks while doing a simple task.  Shelling peas, and broad beans.  A simple task, but one that connected me with my grandmother, long since promoted to glory, and many happy weekends doing the same simple task, and remarking how beautiful are the beans and the peas, the beans secured within their felt padded pods and yet the pods are marked, spotted and gnarled on the outside.  How is that like being human, or even being a Christian?  Are we attractive on the outside, superficial, yet not so attractive on the inside?  Or perhaps, people we know, work alongside, even even share our lives with, are people with hearts of gold, who are dedicated and  faithful servants of Christ, and yet we fail to get below the surface, so fail to see the glory of God that lies hidden. 

Later in the day, Anita and I drove out to Great Chalfield, that delightful country manor  house between Bradford on Avon and Melksham. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-greatchalfieldmanor I was co-hosting the Wiltshire launch of the Friends of Wiltshire Churches, a fundraising and social arm of the Wiltshire Historic Churches Trust, of whom I happen to be the Chairman.  It is a lovely house, so do get along and see it.  The church next door is simply lovely too, and worth a visit.

It was a splendid evening, wonderful canapés, in delightful surroundings, and enchanting company [do you feel you've missed a treat?  Then think about joining the Friends - no don't think - act: http://www.wiltshirehistoricchurches.org.uk/Home.html ]

We had a moment of drama, when one of our distinguished guests collapsed, and as often happens at these events, two doctors and a nurse emerged out of the crowd to take control and reassure our patient.  Within minutes a paramedic  team arrived and I’m pleased to say that our friend is well and ready to bounce back.  The clergy were on hand too, but the Last Rites were far from our thoughts.  It is good to know who your Friends are – sometimes, you only  really know that when times are testing and tough; if you want to be a Friend, then get on and demonstrate it before it is too late.

An invitation from the Team Vicar in the Nadder Valley Team Ministry, west of Salisbury, brought me to St Editha’s Church in Baverstock this evening.  It was a perfect evening for Evensong, with the setting sun pouring its glory through the west window.  Great hymns including Thy hand O Lord has guided, and Cranmer’s Prayer Book well rehearsed by Jane.  I preached to an appreciative congregation, which included a young Italian Roman Catholic who is here for a month learning English for her Fine Art profession. 

My sermon included what I had discovered about St Editha, and a reflection on the readings which were taken from Genesis’ story of Abraham and Sarah and their hospitality towards the three persons of God; and the passage from Luke where Mary and Martha entertained Jesus.  I concluded by saying:

The call from Jesus to Editha that guided and shaped her whole life, is still the same call that is made to us here today.  A call to bring people together in community whenever we can, to live our lives in a generous and hospitable way, making sure those less well off are offered what they need to have a reasonable standard of living.  To celebrate and give thanks and praise to God for all that is achieved in his name.

 Today we remember Sarah, and Mary and Martha, and Editha—not because they were women, not because they had special gifts and skills, not because they found themselves in the public eye of their day—but simply because they said Yes.  They said Yes, when God invited them to share in living his life, and their lives were changed for the better because of that.

 Celebrate your festival day, and hear the call of Jesus Christ to you this day, and see if in your heart and mind, you might follow Editha, you patron saint, and join her in saying Yes.

 After we had said farewell to the congregation I walked down the path towards the church gate, and looked across at the cluster of graves to the west.  One caught my eye, and on closer inspection it was the family graves of the Venerable Willian Hony, Rector of Baverstock, and Archdeacon of Sarum.  As one of my predecessors I took some interest in him, and have found some details on the parish website:

Early in the 19th century a new rectory was built on the opposite side of the road to the church. It was an imposing Regency residence and replaced the old rectory beside the church which had been burnt down in 1796. It had rarely been home to the Baverstock clergy, who were in the most part absentee rectors. One of the most memorable of the Baverstock rectors was William Hony. He became rector in 1827 and remained until he died in 1875. He additionally became Archdeacon of Sarum in 1847. He made considerable changes to Baverstock during his incumbency. His first task was the dilapidated church. He replaced nearly everything except the walls and these he raised. The parishioners contributed £100 towards the cost, the rector paying the remainder. His next project was to build a school for the children of Baverstock. This was built next door to the church on the site of the old Rectory. Later in the 19th century the children were transferred to a new school at Dinton. The Baverstock school became first a Sunday school and eventually a private house and remains so today.

 Those were the days, and clearly Baverstock has some impressive servants who have offered themselves to Christian witness and I pray that the present day residents might continue in that tradition, as they offer welcome and hospitality to all.

A few weeks ago I asked John to teach me to insert pictures into the text – he did and this is my first try out. It is a photo I took when I visited Yorkshire a few years ago. From the back it looks like a cross but from the front you can see that it is Mary carrying Jesus. It is a modern sculpture in a ruined monastery and although the day was dull and windy the feeling was very spiritual.

I have not put in more than one as I need to learn how to re-size photos but I shall tryand will then be more adventurous in the future by learning how to wrap the text around the image.

Last weekend I drove nearly 200 miles in our diocese, sometimes dropping into Bath and Wells but then I won’t talk about that.
My journeys began on Saturday, seeing me on the A303 at 0730 hrs driving west with very few other vehicles on the road. I turned off at Crewkerne and wended my way to Bradpole (near Bridport for those who have the same size geography knowledge as I do). The journey was lovely and the scenery was a delight to view. The workshop was good – but then I would say it as I was leading it – and the participants were nice people. In fact some were so nice that they also helped be clear up afterwards, so thank you very much.
I had to drop some things off at Church House so came back via Dorchester, another good journey with nice scenery.
Sunday and I was in the north of the diocese, visiting St Katherine’s Savernake Forest and St Nicholas East Grafton (near Marlborough) Again the journeys were good and the sun continued to shine making everything look really good.
Both congregations were warm in their welcome and I enjoyed the time I spent with them. Both church buildings are not what one might expect: St K’s has a haw-haw and both have a rounded end to their chancel which I think is called an apse and the acoustics are good. There were obviously more to them but I’m not an architect so don’t know the names of the other parts which were interesting to look at. Thank you to all those I met and I look forward to seeing you in June when the Ramsbury team comes your way.
It was over the weekend that I realised that envy comes in many forms and oh for a little MG or similar in which I could have enjoyed driving with the roof down – maybe one day Alan won’t be the only one with such a vehicle.

People – that is the reason for the season!  I think that I have been fortunate in following my vocation in life to be fascinated by people.  I know that some people like to run away from people, and are happy to be cocooned in their own world.  I too can find that I have had enough of people, and yearn for the open views and desolate hill tops of a long distance walk.  But people – I do so love to watch people.

This month I’ve been travelling around quite a lot and have found the following encounters rather memorable.  No names of course, that would never do!  Especially as the Blog statistics show that our visitor numbers are rising month on month.  Must be that you blogwatchers are fascinated by the world beyond the end of your nose too!

A train journey to London, and a crowded train.  I managed to get a seat [with my increasingly silver hair do, I find people are starting to get up and offer me seats! Can't wait for the bus pass!] and opposite me sat a young girl.  She had on a heavy anorak, and her hair was tightly wound into curlers.  I presumed she was coming home from work, and perhaps was going to the hairdressers or something.  Over the course of our 90 minute journey, she carefully applied her make up, her eyes – eyelids, eye lashes, and eyeliner; then her cheeks and lips, carefully applied taking into account the swaying carriage we were sat in; and then she brushed out her hair into lovely curly long locks. 

As we pulled into Waterloo Station she stood up and slipped off the heavy anorak coat, revealing the most beautiful sparkly black cocktail dress.  She tidied the make-up bag and anorak into her carry bag, and as a butterfly emerging from the chrysalis, left the train for her party, and a lot of open mouthed males behind!  Good for you girl!

We all need Friends. Not just the American sit-com which I do enjoying watching from time to time, but also the day to day contact with people who support and nurture us as fellow human beings.  Friends – and especially the Friends of Wiltshire Churches is my next observation.  We have this year launched a Friends of Wiltshire Churches to support the fundraising efforts of the Wiltshire Historic Churches Trust, of which I am the Chairman.  We give away around £45,000 each year to churches who are seeking to repair the fabric of the County’s churches.  Most of the money comes from the Ride and Stride [Bike Ride] but with gradually reducing number of riders, we need to find other ways of raising money.

This night, in London, a great group of Friends gathered at Hoare’s Bank in Fleet Street, to celebrate the launch of the Friends.  I’ve never been in the bank before and it reminded me of that scene in Mary Poppins where the children go to visit their father in his city bank.  It was just like that, and a wonderful glimpse into low security, face to face contact, with plenty of oak panelling and old fashioned courtesy.  The doorbell sounded gentle and welcoming, and the uniformed attendant was courteous and friendly, and ever so politely told me what to do with my coat and bag, and where the reception was held.  People portly, people titled, people with interests wide and sincere, gathered together to celebrate the desire to value and gift our historic churches for future generations – and the champagne and food was delicious and generously donated to us, by the good people of Hoare’s Bank.

My third people encounter, was the gathering in Bemerton, at a neighbour’s house, for mulled wine and canapes.  I still find it very sad that you can live as neighbours for a whole year and never find the time or space to get to know people.  It is my fault, and I could if I made it a priority, gather people together for just this purpose.  In fact we do host a couple of large garden parties each year, but when you are hosting you don’t seem to engage as well with your guests. 

This evening we were guests, and had the time and privilege of getting to know the local folk.  Of course some of the perceptions were hard – “You should do more for Bemerton, Archdeacon!”  “We never seem to see you in Church” “Of course we used to have the village fete in your garden!”  “How many years have you lived here now – and when are you likely to be moving?”

Ah – but if they only read the Blog, they’d know where and when and how my life is lived out.

People – love ‘em all!

Last night, I attended a unique occasion when we licensed two incumbents to neighbouring parishes, in order to create a new ministry to a new emerging housing estate.  Just north of Salisbury, near to Old Sarum, adjacent to the Park and Ride site at the Beehive, a new estate of 500 homes is being constructed, and with the first 20 or so now occupied. 

Outside the Show Home of Charles Church [how appropriate!] a group of clergy and laity gathered to witness the licensing of Rev Paul Taylor to the Bourne Valley Benefice, and Rev Vanda Perrett to the Sarum St Francis and Stratford-sub-Castle Benefice, as Associate Priests.  With the Rural Dean of Salisbury Rev David Linaker; Assistant Rural Dean of Alderbury Bill Rogers; Lay Chairman of Alderbury Deanery Martyn Sanders, together with Anthea Davies LLM Bourne Valley and others, we did the legal licensing in the usual way: making oaths and committing to the new  ministry before formally handing the licence to the new minister.

Then we went on a prayer walk – moving to various points on the new estate, praying for the new houses and their builders; for the new residents and their needs; for the emerging community and their ambition; for the churches and the new cooperation, that we might be seen to work together to be effective in providing pastoral care.

It was a bit of a wilderness, with large lorries arriving and unloading tonnes of road materials, steady drizzle keeping the dust down for us, and one new family moving into their new home from the Midlands.  We were carrying welcome leaflets which gave details of the local churches, and key contact names and numbers.  We hope that this will mark the beginning of a creative partnership in mission and ministry, and the start of many blessings for all those who will make their homes in this part of  Wiltshire.

Thanks Rachel for the comments about the service on Pentecost, and I’ll try and Blog the sermon at some stage.  It was also great to meet your mother!!  Life is full and time speeds along our working week, but happily so.  I’d like to tell you about my Pentecost.

I was very pleased to be asked to preach at the Avon Valley/Durrington service, and was rather encouraged by the decision to meet in Figheldean Village Hall rather than one of the churches.  It was central, well equipped with facilities, and provided a “neutral” space for the congregations to come together.  The clergy had encouraged people to wear red, and it was a colourful congregation that gathered for worship.  Apart from my red stole, I brought my biggest red item – the MG!  A music  group led the combined choirs of the seven churches, so we had a strong lead, and people were clearly up for singing!

After the service people gathered on the grass outside the hall, to picnic and play games, and I was reluctant to leave to move on to my next engagement, leaving them to enjoy this beautiful weather.

I motored up the valley and came across to Devizes, where I was meeting a group from the Devizes Partnership of Devizes at the Roundway White Horse.  There are eight white horse figures cut into hillsides in Wiltshire, and Roundway is the newest – cut into the hill in 2000.  Around twenty of us gathered there for a picnic lunch and then looking at the really stunning views across the town of Devizes to Redhorn Hill opposite, we prayed for the people, the businesses, the schools, and the work of the churches in that place.  It was very powerful, and again a carnival atmosphere was created.  I noticed from the information board that a new long distance walk has been created called the White Horse Trail – some 90 miles from horse to horse.  Must put that in the 100 things I must do before I die pile!  The whole prayer initiative is part of Bishop Stephen’s plans to be a pilgrim in mission from 14th – 21st June, where he leads a team from the Ramsbury Area engaging in and celebrating the life of the people of Devizes.  “Believing in Devizes” – look out for the activities, and of course reports from this Blog.

Last night, I attended a meeting at the Bemerton Club in my home area of Salisbury.  It was advertised as a “What will happen to St John’s Church?” meeting, and as expected around 110 people turned up to find out more about the future of the church in Bemerton. 

Actually, Bemerton is one parish, and it is served by three churches.  St Andrew’s is the ancient church, seating about 30 people, and the final resting place of George Herbert, the Anglican priest and poet.  Thousands of visitors come to the church each year to pay homage, and soak up some of the atmosphere of Herbert’s three years as the parish priest from 1630 – 1633, when he died.

Up on Bemerton Heath, the large housing estate north of the A30 is the Church of St Michael, built in the early 20th century, to serve the growing suburb of Salisbury.  Just along the road from St Andrew’s is St John’s church, built by the Victorians, before the housing boom, and as a memorial church to honour George Herbert.  It is a large 300 seat building. 

The issue of St John’s future arose when the heating system failed, and the congregation of 20 people found they faced a bill of up to £45,000 to replace the broken down oil fired warm-air circulated system with a modern hot-water radiator system.  They can’t afford to do this, and also consider that they cannot continue to maintain such a large building which is used for just a couple of hours a week.  Hence the open public meeting to see if the community wanted to help.

The Rector, Simon Woodley opened the meeting by outlining the dilemma, and suggested the PCC would be interested in whether a partnership might be established to widen the use of the building throughout the week.  Then a neighbour of mine who had visited a church at Westbury Leigh, gave a useful PowerPoint presentation about that project; a congregation and community had converted the nave of their building into a community space, while retaining the chancel for regular worship. Then another neighbour outlined some potential funding streams, and finally, yours truly outlined how approval might be sought from the Diocese for making alterations to a church building.

A space for reflection and topping up one’s pint glass, was then followed by a question and answer session.  Some interesting comments were made.  First thoughts were wanting the PCC to put a heating system back fora cheaper price – allowing the building to be used by the congregation.  There were also ideas to ask the church to create a PR group to promote and advertise the need to support the church and attract supporters.  There was some support for the PCC to come up with ideas for using the church for other purposes, and reminding the meeting that there were other community spaces in the Club, Community Centre on the Heath, the new School Hall opposite the church, and the new Sports Club Pavilion to be built just behind the church.

It was encouraging to know that supports to keep the church open had come as far from Marlow in Bucks and from Bournemouth.  Emotions were quite high when people spoke about the members of family baptised, married, and buried in the churchyard, an also those who hoped their pastoral services would be able to take place in the church in the future.  One speaker mentioned that the audience was predominantly old, and when she had set up a Facebook account to save St John’s Bemerton nearly 400 people had signed in over a two week period.  A member of the congregation suggested that if just a few people who were there at the meeting would dare to attend church on a regular basis, perhaps the issue would resolve itself.

A merging of past, present and future.  This was quite poignant for me, as one of the speakers happened to be my English teacher at my Grammar School who I had not seen for 33 years!  He looked just the same, and it will not surprise the blogwatchers to hear that he did not recognise me [must have been my beard!]

Simon ended the evening by thanking all those who had come and spoken, and asked peoeple to indicate their willingness to join a project group to see what options should be explored.  We agreed to meet again in six months to see what has been achieved.

On 22 February I blessed the new extension/foyer of St Paul’s Salisbury. It is the latest stage in the development of all the property of the parish under the vision of enlarging the tent (Isaiah 54). I unveiled a plaque in the new foyer and then blessed and dedicated the splendid area the design of which is in keeping with the nineteenth century building materials but adds a genuine tent dimension in the design. Here is what I preached.

I have a very special sense of belonging in this extension which has enlarged the tent of St Paul’s. We have been reminded of my purple boots. When I concentrate I tend to stick my tongue out and someone picked this out in the pictures.  I felt right blessed on that digger, so it is natural for me to be thinking about the text of our reading from The Sermon on the Mount with its Beatitudes at the beginning, just ahead of where our reading starts today. It tells us that those who are poor, those who are hungry, those who weep, those whose hearts are pure, those who work to establish peace, those who suffer for the cause of justice — they are all blessed in the kingdom of God.

Then what is expected of those who have been so blessed?  Jesus says: ‘You are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world’. Blessings bring responsibilities. There is the old joke that a group of rabbis gathered to pray after being scattered in a particular pogrom in the East. “We thank you, Father, for blessing us as your chosen people; but do you think you might choose some others, too?” Well, of course he has. He has chosen me and you. Writing to the scattered Christian congregations in Asia Minor, Peter in his first Epistle tells them:

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. Once you were no people but now you are God’s people; once you had not received God’s mercy but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10)

The choosing of the whole of Israel under the First Covenant was described as choosing and creating a royal priesthood from all the people. Now we, the people of the New Covenant are a priestly people, adopted into the royal family of Christ our King, and called to give ourselves in royal service to God’s world. My Granny was a very humble lady who didn’t like it if anyone gave up a seat for her on the bus. I used to say to her that it was fine because she was as good as any duchess, because she had the blue blood of a sister of Jesus. We Christians are on that bus, in the very throng of the traffic of human life. Christians are not other worldly. We are heavenly-minded precisely so that we can be of some serious earthly use. How are we to fulfil our responsibility in the society in which we live? Jesus said: You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world. It is not an accident that you are situated here so close to the new law courts and have so many young people passing your doors every day. Enlarging the tent with an extra space is about hospitality and about creating safe and holy space for people. But it is also a sign that you have pushed your threshold further into the world which Christ has come to save.

When we want to stress a person’s worth we often say that he or she is the salt of the earth. In the ancient world, salt was thought of as a divine gift. As we know, it is the basic preservative for people all round the world. It keeps things from going bad. Salt also gives taste and seasoning to food. I love mashed potato. I can manage without cream in it at a pinch, but not without salt. It tastes of nothing. The Christian’s task is to be the salt of society, preserving, reconciling, adding the necessary seasoning of meaning and hope. To be the salt of society means that we are deeply concerned with its well being. We preserve moral principles and make a contribution to the development of cultural and social life.

We are also called to be the light of the world. It means we are to be light in all aspects of the world’s life. It also means we are to be light for all the people of the world. It takes us out of our preoccupation with the welfare of the Christian community alone. The light motif is often used in the Bible. Jews spoke of Jerusalem as light to the Gentiles. But Jerusalem does not produce its own light. It is God who lights the lamp of Israel. Moreover, Jerusalem cannot hide its light.

Speaking of the Messianic age, Isaiah says:

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who dwell in a land of deep darkness,
on them the light has shined. (Isaiah 9:2)

This prophecy was fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ. Jesus said: ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’. (John 8:12) Again he said: ‘While I am in the world, I am the light of the world’.

Jesus Christ is the true light of all the world. He has lit a light in the life of each one of his followers. Christian disciples are called to rise and shine and give God the glory. St. Paul exhorts the Christians in Philippi ‘to be blameless and innocent in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as light in the world’.

Christians are to be torch bearers in a dark world. One should not try to hide the light which God has lit in our lives. Rather we should shine so that others may see our good deeds and praise God; Shining does not mean self-glorification, but bearing fruit in our life, bringing life and light to others. It is about our deeds in society. It’s like the partnership with the Trussell Trust and feeding the poor and drawing in people to make a contribution who usually get left on the shelf. It’s about your link with the Sudan to be in solidarity with Christians who are trying to build a fair and peaceful country.

We Christians are not to be indifferent to politics but must actively participate in the political life of our city and country. The Bible does not give us a programme for political action, but it gives us a picture of God and his purposes for his creation. In the Beatitudes we see a God who comforts those who mourn, a God who satisfies the needs of the poor and the hungry. To be a light is to follow this God, struggling to bring about social justice in our society, to safeguard human rights and to work for peace and reconciliation.

When you first were given the vision of enlarging the tent it was like falling in love. You know that the feeling is true but you do not know what all the consequences will be. God reveals what you need to know as you go along. That’s what God is doing with you here at St Paul’s. You have inklings of the next stage of the vision; but first you must occupy the new tent. Enjoy the new perspective it gives you on your ministry. Take time beyond this morning to be thankful for everyone’s stewardship of prayer, time, expertise and money, including architects, builders and contractors, planning officers, site managers, tea-makers, even the Vicar. But above all rise and shine and give God the glory. Amen.