Nottingham Churches

Coffee Break Concerts - Summer 2012

Thu, 03 May 2012 10:48:09 +0200

The next series of Coffee Break Concerts begins on Saturday 12th May, 11am at St Peter's Church. For more information, please click here.

Saturday 5th May - Mozart Requiem

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 10:29:59 +0200

Saturday 5th May 2012
7.30pm at St Mary's Church

Dvorak - Two Slavonic Dances (Op 46 No. 2 & Op 72, No. 2)
Dvorak - Cello Concerto (Cello Soloist - Elisheba Stevens)
Mozart - Requiem

Tickets: £15 (£13), £12 (£10), £5 (student standby £3 at the door). Unreserved Seats.

Box Office: Classical CD, 10 Goose Gate, Nottingham, NG1 1FF. Tel: 0115 948 3832

Words of Faith

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 13:14:43 +0200

40. Resurrection -

“The claims of Jesus Christ, namely his resurrection, have led me as often as I have tried to examine the evidence to believe it as a fact beyond dispute”. Lord Caldecote, former Lord Chief Justice of England

“Perhaps the transformation of the disciples of Jesus is the greatest evidence of all for the resurrection”. John Stott

“Although we have complete salvation through his death, because we are reconciled to God through it, it is by his resurrection, not his death, that we are said to be born to a living hope”. John Calvin

“So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body”. St Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15.42-44

39. Cross -

“Twas I that shed the sacred blood; I nailed him to the tree; I crucified the Christ of God; I joined the mockery. Of all that shouting multitude I feel that I am one; And in that din of voices rude I recognise my own. Around the cross the throng I see, mocking the Sufferer’s groan; Yet still my voice it seems to be, as if I mocked alone”. Horatius Bonar

“In the cross of Christ God says to man, ‘That is where you ought to be. Jesus, my Son, hangs there in your stead. His tragedy is the tragedy of your life. You are the rebel who should be hanged on the gallows. But lo, I suffer instead of you and because of you, because I love you in spite of what you are. My love for you is so great that I meet you there, there on the cross. I cannot meet you anywhere else. You must meet me there by identifying yourself with the one on the cross. It is by this identification that I, God, can meet you in him, saying to you as I say to him, My beloved Son’.” Emil Brunner

“The cross is seen as the saving act of Christ, but even more than this, it is seen as the final place of reconciliation between God and humanity”. Calvin Miller

38. Death -

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow, Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow, And soonest our best men with thee do go, Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery. Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell; And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then? One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die. John Donne

“Through the half-open door in one room of the huts I saw Pastor Bonhoeffer, before taking off his prison garb, kneeling on the floor praying fervently to his God. I was most deeply moved by the way this lovable man prayed, so devout and so certain that God heard his prayer. At the place of execution, he again said a short prayer and then climbed the steps to the gallows, brave and composed. His death ensued after a few seconds. In almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God”. Prison doctor, describing Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s death

“The waters are rising, but so am I. I am not going under but over. Do not be concerned about dying; go on living well, the dying will be right”. Last words of Catherine Booth, wife of Salvation Army Founder William Booth

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” St Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15.55

37. Salvation -

“God just doesn’t throw a life preserver to a drowning person. He goes to the bottom of the sea, and pulls a corpse up from the bottom of the sea, takes him up on the bank, breathes into him the breath of life, and makes him alive. That’s what the Bible says happens in your salvation”. R. C. Sproul

“Salvation is wholly of grace, not only undeserved but undesired by us until God is pleased to awaken us to a sense of our need for it. And then we find everything prepared that our wants require or our wishes conceive; yea, that He has done exceedingly beyond what we could either ask or think. Salvation is wholly of the Lord and bears those signatures of infinite wisdom, power and goodness which distinguish all His works from the puny imitations of men. It is in every way worthy of Himself, a great, a free, a full, a sure salvation”. John Newton

“We must not suppose that if we succeeded in making everyone nice we should have saved their souls. A world of nice people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world”. C. S. Lewis

36. Communion -

“It is the duty of every Christian to receive the Lord's Supper as often as he can ... The first reason why it is the duty of every Christian so to do is because it is a plain command of Christ. That this is his command, appears from the words of the text, "Do this in remembrance of me …" A second reason why every Christian should do this as often as he can, is, because the benefits of doing it are so great to all that do it in obedience to him; viz., the forgiveness of our past sins and the present strengthening and refreshing of our souls ... The grace of God given herein confirms to us the pardon of our sins, by enabling us to leave them. As our bodies are strengthened by bread and wine, so are our souls by these tokens of the body and blood of Christ. This is the food of our souls: This gives strength to perform our duty, and leads us on to perfection. John Wesley

"Lord Jesus, Who in the Eucharist make your dwelling among us and become our travelling companion, sustain our Christian communities so that they may be ever more open to listening and accepting your Word. May they draw from the Eucharist a renewed commitment to spreading in society, by the proclamation of your Gospel, the signs and deeds of an attentive and active charity”. Pope John Paul II

“Our lives must be woven around the Eucharist ... fix your eyes on Him Who is the light; bring your hearts close to His Divine Heart; ask Him to grant you the grace of knowing Him, the love of loving Him, the courage to serve Him. Seek Him fervently.” Mother Teresa

35. Palms -

When fishes flew and forests walked, and figs grew upon thorn, some moment when the moon was blood then surely I was born.
With monstrous head and sickening cry and ears like errant wings, the devil's walking parody on all four-footed things.
The tattered outlaw of the earth, of ancient crooked will; starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb, I keep my secret still.
Fools! For I also had my hour; one far fierce hour and sweet: there was a shout about my ears, and palms before my feet.
The Donkey, G. K. Chesterton

34. Church-

“We must cease to think of the Church as a gathering of institutions and organisations, and we must get back the notion that we are the people of God”. M. Lloyd-Jones

“The Church is a society of sinners - the only society in the world in which membership is based on the single qualification that the candidate shall be unworthy of membership”. Charles C. Morrison

“Nobody worries about Christ as long as he can be kept shut up in churches. He is quite safe inside. But there is always trouble if you try and let him out”. G. A. Studdert Kennedy

“I believe in the Church, one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church; and nowhere does it exist”. William Temple

“Congregational life, wherein each member has an opportunity to contribute to the life of the whole body those gifts with which the Spirit endows him or her, is as much of the essence of the Church as are ministry and sacraments”. Lesslie Newbigin

33. Trinity -

“Think of the Father as a spring of life begetting the Son like a river, and the Holy Spirit as like a sea, for the spring and the river and the sea are all one nature. Think of the Father as a root, of the Son as a branch, and of the Spirit as a fruit, for the substance in these three is one. The Father is a sun with the Son as its rays and the Holy Spirit as heat”. St John of Damascus

“If you speak of ‘light’, then both each Person of the Trinity is light and the Three are one light. If you speak of ‘eternal life’, so each of Them is likewise, the Son, the Spirit, and the Father, and the Three are one life. So God the Father is Spirit (John 4.24), and the Spirit is the Lord (2 Cor. 3.17), and the Holy Spirit is God. Each Person is God by Himself, and together the Three are one God. Each One is Lord and the Three are Lord”. Symeon the New Theologian

“What does it profit you to enter into deep discussions concerning the Holy Trinity, if you lack humility, and are thus displeasing to the Trinity?” Thomas à Kempis

32. Holy Spirit -

“Every time we say, ‘I believe in the Holy Spirit’, we mean that we believe that there is a living God able and willing to enter human personality and change it”. J. B. Phillips

“Life in the Spirit is … to be a ceaseless personal response to the call and claim of Jesus in each new situation by the individual disciple from within the Christ-centred fellowship”. John V. Taylor

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s holy ones in accordance with His will”. St Paul, in Romans 8. 26,27

“All of us who have received one and the same Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit, are in a sense blended together with one another and with God. For if Christ, together with the Father’s and his own Spirit, comes to dwell in each of us, though we are many, still the Spirit is one and undivided. He binds together the spirits of each and every one of us, and makes all appear as one in Him. For just as the power of Christ’s sacred flesh unites those in whom it dwells into one body, I think that in the same way the one and undivided Spirit of God, who dwells in all, leads all into spiritual unity”. St Cyril of Alexandria

31. Incarnation -

“Maker of the sun, he is made under the sun. In the Father he remains, from his mother he goes forth. Creator of heaven and earth, he was born on earth under heaven. Unspeakably wise, he is wisely speechless. Filling the world, he lies in a manger. Ruler of the stars, he nurses at his mother’s breast. He is both great in the nature of God, and small in the form of a servant”. St Augustine of Hippo

30. Christ -

In Matthew, Christ is King of the Jews.
In Mark, He is the Servant.
In Luke, He is the perfect Son of Man.
In John, the Son of God.
In Acts, He is the Ascended Lord.
In Romans, the Lord our Righteousness.
In 1 Corinthians, Our Resurrection.
In 2 Corinthians, Our Comforter.
In Galatians, the End of the Law.
In Ephesians, the Head of the Church.
In Philippians, the Supplier of Every Need.
In Colossians, the Fullness of the Godhead.
In 1 Thessalonians, He comes for His Church.
In 2 Thessalonians, He comes with His Church.
In 1 Timothy, He is the Mediator.
In 2 Timothy, the Bestower of Crowns.
In Titus, our Great God and Saviour.
In Philemon, the Prayer of Crowns.
In Hebrews, the Rest of the Faith and Fulfiller of Types.
In James, the Lord drawing nigh.
In 1 Peter, the Vicarious Sufferer.
In 2 Peter, the Lord of Glory.
In 1 John, the Way.
In 2 John, the Truth.
In 3 John, the Life.
In Jude, he is Our Security.
In Revelation, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Lamb of God, the Bright and Morning Star, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. James Hayes

29. God -

“O Thou who art! Ecclesiastes names thee the Almighty. Maccabees names thee Creator; the Epistle to the Ephesians names thee Liberty … the Psalms name thee Wisdom and Truth; John names thee Light; the Book of Kings names thee Lord; Exodus calls thee Providence; Leviticus, Holiness; Esdras, Justice; Creation calls thee God; Man names thee Father; but Solomon names thee Compassion, and that is the most beautiful of all thy names”. Victor Hugo

“God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfil all his promises … leading us along the best and straightest paths to Himself”. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“An impersonal God - well and good. A subjective God of beauty, truth and goodness, inside our own heads - better still. A formless life-force surging through us, a vast power which we can tap - best of all. But God Himself, alive, pulling at the other end of the cord, perhaps, approaching an infinite speed, the hunter, king, husband - that is quite another matter. There comes a moment when the children who have been playing at burglars hush suddenly: was that a real footstep in the hall? There comes a moment when people who have been dabbling in religion ("Man's search for God!") suddenly draw back. Supposing we really found Him? We never meant it to come to that! Worse still, supposing He had found us? C. S. Lewis, "Miracles"

“‘Personal God’ does not mean that God is ‘a person’. It means that God is the ground of everything personal … He is not a person, but He is not less than personal”. Paul Tillich

“If God created us in His image we have certainly returned the compliment”. Voltaire

28. Kingdom of God -

“There is no point in us travelling abroad to find the kingdom of heaven, or crossing the sea in search of virtue. As the Lord has already told us, God’s kingdom is within you”. St Anthony of Egypt

“To want all that God wants, always to want it, for all occasions and without reservations, this is the kingdom of God which is all within”. F. Fenelon

“Let the proud seek and love earthly kingdoms, but blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God”. St Augustine of Hippo

“I will place no value on anything I have or possess unless it is in relationship to the kingdom of God”.
David Livingstone

“There can be no kingdom of God in the world without the kingdom of God in our hearts”. Albert Schweitzer

27. Holiness -

If on our daily course our mind be set to hallow all we find, new treasures still of countless price God will provide for sacrifice. The trivial round, the common task, will furnish all we ought to ask; Room to deny ourselves - a road to bring us daily nearer God. John Keble

“People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated”. D.A. Carson, For the Love of God, Cited in "Reflections," Christianity Today (July 31, 2000)

“Make sure that you let God's grace work in your souls by accepting whatever He gives you, and giving Him whatever He takes from you. True holiness consists in doing God's work with a smile”. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

26. Hell -

“When the Church does not clearly teach the doctrine of hell, society loses an important anchor. In a sense, hell gives meaning to our lives. It tells us that the moral choices we make day by day have eternal significance; that our behaviour has consequences lasting to eternity; that God Himself takes our choices seriously. When people don't believe in a final judgement, they don't feel ultimately accountable for their actions. There is no firm leash holding back sinful impulses. As the book of Judges puts it, there is no "fear of God" in their hearts, and everyone does "what is right in his own eyes." The doctrine of hell is not just some dusty, theological holdover from the unenlightened Middle Ages. It has significant social consequences. Without ultimate justice, people's sense of moral obligation dissolves; social bonds are broken. People who have no fear of God soon have no fear of man, and no respect for human laws and authority”. Chuck Colson

“I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside”. C. S. Lewis

“Where will you be sitting in eternity – smoking or non-smoking?” Anonymous

25. Heaven -

“Heaven wheels above you, displaying to you her eternal glories, and still your eyes are on the ground”.
Dante Alighieri

“He that asks me what heaven is, means not to hear me, but to silence me; He knows I cannot tell him. When I meet him there, I shall be able to tell him, and then he will be as able to tell me; yet then we shall be but able to tell one another. This, this that we enjoy is heaven, but the tongues of Angels, the tongues of glorified Saints, shall not be able to express what that heaven is; for, even in heaven our faculties shall be finite”. John Donne

“There is no need to be worried by facetious people who try to make the Christian hope of "heaven" ridiculous by saying they do not want ‘to spend eternity playing harps.’ The answer to such people is that if they cannot understand books written for grown-ups, they should not talk about them. All the scriptural imagery (harps, crowns, gold etc.) is, of course, a merely symbolic attempt to express the inexpressible. Musical instruments are mentioned because for many people (not all) music is the thing known in the present life which most strongly suggests ecstasy and infinity. Crowns are mentioned to suggest the fact that those who are united with God in eternity share His splendour and power and joy. Gold is mentioned to suggest the timelessness of Heaven (gold does not rust) and the preciousness of it. People who take these symbols literally might as well think that when Christ told us to be like doves, He meant that we were to lay eggs”. C.S. Lewis

24. Blessedness -

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5. 2-1

“Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing”. 1 Peter 3.9

“Temporal blessings are not definite marks of divine favour, since God gives them to the unworthy, and to the wicked, as well as to the righteous”. C. H. Spurgeon

23. Grace -

“Grace is what God gives us when we don’t deserve, and mercy is when God doesn’t give us what we do deserve”. Anonymous

“Cheap grace is not the kind of forgiveness of sin which frees us from the toils of sin. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods … Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must the asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life”. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

“Blind as we are, we hinder God and stop the current of His graces. But when He finds a soul permeated with a lively faith, He pours into it His graces and favours plentifully; there they flow like a torrent which, after being forcibly stopped against its ordinary course, when it has found a passage, spreads itself with impetuosity and abundance”. Brother Lawrence

22. Knowing God -

“What were we made for? To know God.
What aim should we have in life? To know God.
What is the eternal life that Jesus gives? To know God.
What is the best thing in life? To know God.
What in humans gives God the most pleasure? Knowledge of himself”.
J. I. Packer

“When we speak of knowing God, it must be understood with reference to man’s limited powers of comprehension. God, as he really is, is far beyond man’s imagination, let alone his understanding. God has revealed only so much of himself as our minds can conceive and the weakness of our nature can bear”.
John Milton

Disciple: But how shall I comprehend this Ground of the Soul (i.e. God)?
Master: If thou goest about to comprehend it, then it will fly away from thee; but if thou dost surrender thyself wholly up to it, then it will abide with thee, and become the Life of thy life, and be natural to thee.
Jacob Boehme

“The people who know God best are those who least presume to speak of Him”.
St Angela of Foligno

21. Wisdom -

“Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men”. St Paul, in 1 Corinthians 1.22-25

“God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that can be changed, and the wisdom to know the difference”. Reinhold Niebuhr

“True wisdom is gazing at God. Gazing at God is silence of the thoughts”. St Isaac the Syrian

“You can’t access wisdom by the megabyte. Wisdom is concerned with how we relate to people, to the world, and to God”. Edmund P. Clowney

20. Revelation -

“The world’s best geographer cannot show us the way to God, and the world’s best psychiatrist cannot give us a final answer to the problem of our guilt. There are matters contained in Holy Writ that unveil for us that which is not exposed to the natural course of human investigation”. R. C. Sproul

“Instead of complaining that God has hidden himself, you will give him thanks for having revealed so much of himself … Two kinds of persons know Him: those who have a humble heart, and who love lowliness, whatever kind of intellect they have, high or low; and those who have sufficient understanding to see the truth, whatever opposition they may have to it”. Blaise Pascal

“All visions, revelations, heavenly feelings, and whatever is greater than these, are not worth the least act of humility, being the fruits of that charity which neither values nor seeks itself, which thinks well, not of itself, but of others. Many souls, to whom visions have never come, are incomparably more advanced in the way of perfection than others to whom many have been given”. St John of the Cross

“The Bible, as a revelation from God, was not designed to give us all the information we might desire, nor to solve all the problems about which the human soul is perplexed, but to impart enough to be a safe guide to the haven of eternal rest”. Albert Barnes

19. Truth -

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth”.
Jesus, speaking to the disciples at the Last Supper (John. 16.13)

“Our society finds truth too strong a medicine to digest undiluted. In its purest form, truth is not a polite tap on the shoulder, it is a howling reproach. What Moses brought down from Mount Sinai were not suggestions but ten commandments”. Ted Koppel

“If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth – only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair”. C. S. Lewis

“We must never throw away a bushel of truth because it contains a few grains of chaff”. Dean Stanley

“You don’t tell deliberate lies, but sometimes you have to be evasive”. Margaret Thatcher

18. Doubt -

“A person may be haunted by doubts, and only grow thereby in faith. Doubts are the messengers of the Living One to the honest. They are the first knock at our door of things that are not yet, but have to be, understood. Doubts must precede every deeper assurance, for uncertainties are what we first see when we look into a region hitherto unknown, unexplored, unannexed”. George Macdonald

“Our English word ‘doubt’ comes from the Latin dubitare which is rooted in an Aryan word meaning two … To believe is to be ‘in one mind’ about accepting something as true; to disbelieve is to be ‘in one mind’ about rejecting it. To doubt is to waver between the two, to believe and disbelieve at once and so to be ‘in two minds’”. Os Guinness

“Those who insist on being sure about everything must be content to creep along the ground and never soar”.
J. H. Newman

Doubt sees the obstacles, faith sees the way;
Doubt sees the darkest night, faith sees the day;
Doubt dreads to take a step, faith soars on high;
Doubt questions, “Who believes?” but faith answers “I”. Anonymous

17. Faith -

“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and being certain of what we do not see”. Hebrews 11.1

“Faith ... is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods. For moods will change, whatever view your reason takes. I know that by experience. Now that I am a Christian I do have moods in which the whole thing looks very improbable: but when I was an atheist I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable. This rebellion of your moods against your real self is going to come anyway. That is why Faith is such a necessary virtue: unless you teach your moods "where they get off," you can never be either a sound Christian or even a sound atheist, but just a creature dithering to and fro, with its beliefs really dependent on the weather and the state of its digestion. Consequently one must train the habit of Faith”. C S Lewis - Mere Christianity

“Faith untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and it is likely to remain dwarfish so long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her. When a calm reigns on the sea, spread the sails as you will, the ship moves not to its harbour; for on a slumbering ocean the keel sleeps too. Let the winds rush howling forth, and let the waters lift up themselves, then, though the vessel may rock, and her deck may be washed with waves, and her mast may creak under the pressure of the full and swelling sail, it is then that she makes headway towards her desired haven. No faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity. Tried faith brings experience. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too”. Charles Spurgeon

16. Patience -

“If they try to rush me, I always say, "I've only got one other speed - and it's slower." Glenn Ford

“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it”. Arnold Glasow

“True patience is to suffer the wrongs done to us by others in an unruffled spirit and without feeling resentment. Patience bears with others because it loves them; to bear with them and yet to hate them is not the virtue of patience but a smokescreen for anger”. St. Gregory the Great

“We must wait for God, long, meekly, in the wind and the wet, in the thunder and lightning, in the cold and the dark. Wait, and He will come. He never comes to those who do not wait”. F. W. Faber

“Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance, and have seen what the Lord finally brought about”. The letter of James 5. 10-11

15. Peace -

“Do not let your peace depend on what people say of you, for whether they speak good or ill of you makes no difference to what you are. True peace and joy is to be found in God alone. He who is neither anxious to please nor afraid to displease men enjoys true peace”. Thomas à Kempis

“The real differences around the world today are not between Jews and Arabs, Protestants and Catholics, Muslims, Croats, and Serbs. The real differences are between those who embrace peace and those who would destroy it; between those who look to the future and those who cling to the past; between those who open their arms and those who are determined to clench their fists”. Bill Clinton

“We are not at peace with others because we are not at peace with ourselves, and we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God” Thomas Merton

“Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”. St Paul’s letter to the Romans, 5.1

14. Compassion -

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity”. St Paul’s letter to the Colossians, 3. 12-14

“The best exercise for strengthening the heart is reaching down and lifting people up”. Ernest Blevins

“Compassion means that if I see my friend and my enemy in equal need, I shall help both equally. Justice demands that we seek and find the stranger, the broken, the prisoner, and comfort them and offer them our help. Here lies the holy compassion of God”. Mechtild of Magdeburg

“The value of compassion cannot be over-emphasised. Anyone can criticise. It takes a true believer to be compassionate. No greater burden can be borne by an individual than to know that no-one cares or understands”. Arthur A. Stainback

13. Gratitude -

“He had a rose in his hand and marvelled at it. ‘A glorious work of art by God,’ he said. ‘If a man had the capacity to make just one rose he would be given an empire!’ But the countless gifts of God are esteemed as nothing because they're always present. We see that God gives children to people, the fruit of their bodies resembling the parents. A peasant is said to have three and four sons who look so much like him that they're easily mistaken for one another. All of these gifts are despised because they're always present”. Martin Luther, Table Talk

“Be thankful for the smallest blessing, and you will deserve to receive greater. Value the least gifts no less than the greatest, and simple graces as especial favours. If you remember the dignity of the Giver, no gift will seem small or mean, for nothing can be valueless that is given by the most High God”. Thomas à Kempis

“Let me be thankful, first, because he never robbed me before; second, because although he took my purse, he did not take my life; third, because although he took all I possessed, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed”. Matthew Henry, meditating on the theft of his wallet

12. Listening -

“God gave people a mouth that closes and ears that don't, which should tell us something”. Author unknown

“Many people are looking for an ear that will listen. They do not find it among Christians, because these Christians are talking where they should be listening. But he who can no longer listen to his brother will soon be no longer listening to God, either; he will be doing nothing but prattle in the presence of God, too. This is the beginning of the death of the spiritual life, and in the end there will be nothing left but spiritual chatter and clerical condescension arrayed in pious words... never really speaking to others …” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

“God is our true Friend, who always gives us the counsel and comfort we need. Our danger lies in resisting Him; so it is essential that we acquire the habit of hearkening to his voice, or keeping silence within, and listening so as to lose nothing of what He says to us. We know well enough how to keep outward silence, and to hush our spoken words, but we know little of interior silence. It consists of hushing our idle, restless, wandering imagination, in quieting the promptings of our worldly minds, and in suppressing the crowd of unprofitable thoughts which excite and disturb the soul”. Francis Fenelon

11. Love -

I asked God to take away my pride and God said, "No." He said it was not for Him to take it away, but for me to give it up. I asked God to heal my disease and God said, No." He said, "Your spirit is whole, your body is only temporary. Through your afflictions you will learn to help others who also suffer." I asked God to grant me patience and God said, "No." He said that patience is a by-product of tribulation. It isn't granted, it's earned. I asked God to give me happiness and God said, "No." He said that He gives blessings, happiness is up to me. I asked God to spare me pain and God said, "No." He said, "Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me." I asked God to make my spirit grow and God said, "No." He said that I must grow on my own, but He will prune me to make me fruitful. I asked God if He loved me and God said, "Yes." He said, "I gave my only Son who died for you. You will be in heaven someday because you believe." I asked God to help me love others as much as He loves me and God said," Ah - finally you understand!" Author Unknown

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails”.
St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. 13:4-8

“Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up save in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket--safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable”. C. S. Lewis

“I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.” Lauren - age 4

10. Selfishness -

“It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others”.
John Andrew Holmes

“Religion should never become the subject of selfishness, yet I fear some treat it as if its chief end were personal spiritual gratification. When a man's religion totally lies in saving only himself and in enjoying holy things for himself, there is a disease within him. When his judgment of a sermon is based on the one question, "Did it feed me?" it is a swinish judgment. There is such a thing as getting a swinish religion in which you are yourself first, yourself second, yourself third, yourself to the utmost end. Did Jesus think or speak in that fashion? Contemplation of Christ Himself may be carried out so as to lead you away from Him. The recluse meditates on Jesus, but he is as unlike the busy, self-denying Jesus as any can be. Meditation, unattended by active service in the spreading of the Gospel among men, well deserves the rebuke of the angel, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?’" Charles Spurgeon

“The centre of trouble is not the turbulent appetites, though they are troublesome enough. The centre of trouble is in the personality of man as a whole, which is self-centred and can only be wholesome and healthy if it is God-centred”. William Temple

“The person who is furthest from God is the one who thanks God he is not like others”. William Barclay

9. Forgiveness -

Corrie Ten Boom tells of a time she learned an important aspect of spiritual growth. It was 1947 and she had just finished speaking of God's forgiveness to a group in a small German church. The audience was still haunted by memories of war. Yet the message they heard that day brought a sense of hope. They could forgive those who treated them so cruelly and go on with life. As the service concluded, Corrie noticed a heavyset man coming toward her. Instantly, she remembered him. He had been a guard at the concentration camp where she had been imprisoned. "I know God has forgiven me for the things I did," he said. "But I would like to hear it from your lips. Will you forgive me?" "It was the most difficult thing I had ever had to do," she writes. "I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. A healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. 'I forgive you, brother!'"

“Forgiveness does not mean ignoring what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act. It means, rather, that the evil act no longer remains as a barrier to the relationship”. Martin Luther King Jr

“Scarcely any law of our Redeemer is more openly transgressed, or more industriously evaded, than that by which he commands his followers to forgive injuries”. Samuel Johnson

“Nobody ever forgets where he buried a hatchet”. Kin Hubbard

8. Confession -

“Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done; and there is no health in us. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou them, O God, who confess their faults. Restore thou those who are penitent, according to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesu our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of thy holy Name”. The General Confession, Book of Common Prayer

“If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins, and purify us from all unrighteousness”. 1 John 1.19

“Confess your sins, not those of your neighbours”. Author unknown

“The confession of our failings is a thankless office. It savours less of sincerity or modesty than of ostentation. It seems as if we thought our weaknesses as good as other people's virtues”. William Hazlitt

“In confession ... we open our lives to the healing, reconciling, restoring, uplifting grace of Him who loves us in spite of what we are”. Louis Cassels

7. Humility -

“It is not the glorious battlements, the painted windows, the crouching gargoyles that support a building, but the stones that lie unseen in or upon the earth. It is often those who are despised and trampled on that bear up the weight of a whole nation”. John Owen

“Said the senior devil to the junior devil: ‘I see only one thing to do at this moment. Your patient has become humble; have you drawn his attention to the fact? All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware that he has them, but this is especially true of humility. Catch him at the moment when he is really poor in spirit and smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, "By Jove! I'm being humble", and, almost immediately, pride at his own humility will appear”. C. S. Lewis, in The Screwtape Letters

“What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has settled on the organ of conviction, where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself but undoubting about the truth. This has been exactly reversed”. G. K. Chesterton

“Humility is a virtue that all men preach, none practice, and yet everybody is content to hear. The master thinks it good doctrine for his servants, the laity for the clergy, and the clergy for the laity”. John Seldon

“Don’t let your head get too big – it will break your neck”. Elvis Presley

6. Satan -

“Do not mock the Gospels and say there is no Satan. Evil is too real in the world to say that. Do not say the idea of Satan is dead and gone. Satan never gains so many cohorts, as when, in his shrewdness, he spreads the rumour that he is long since dead. Do not reject the Gospel because it says the Saviour was tempted. Satan always tempts the pure - the others are already his. Satan stations more devils on monastery walls than in dens of iniquity, for the latter offer no resistance. Do not say it was absurd that Satan should appear to our Lord, for Satan must always come close to the godly and the strong - the others succumb from a distance”.
Fulton John Sheen, in ‘The Eternal Galilean’

“Satan watches for those vessels that sail without convoy”. George Swinnock

“‘Sit down at my gaming table’, says Satan. ‘Here are some interesting prizes: your earthly estate, your life, your liberty’. Now you must agree, those things are good and lawful. But here is Satan’s gimmick: he expands the rules of the game so that if you play for him, you will certainly violate the irrevocable and unchangeable laws of God. If you cannot have good things by plain dealing but must resort to sleight of hand, you know that the prize is counterfeit and will turn to dung in your hands … You may think you have won a game or two, but when the game is over, you will find yourself bankrupt”. William Gurnall

“Let us act with humility, cast ourselves at one another's feet, join hands with each other, and help one another. For here we battle not against pope or emperor, but against the devil, and do you imagine that he is asleep”?
Martin Luther

5. Temptation -

“I cannot keep birds from flying over my head, but I can keep them from building nests under my hat”. Martin Luther

“Never think we have a due knowledge of ourselves till we have been exposed to various kinds of temptations, and tried on every side. Integrity on one side of our character is no voucher for integrity on another. We cannot tell how we should act if brought under temptations different from those we have hitherto experienced. This thought should keep us humble. We are sinners, but we do not know how great. He alone knows who died for our sins”.
John Henry Newman

“It is not we who overcome the world in our own strength. We do not have a power plant inside ourselves that can overcome the world. The overcoming is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. There can be a victory, a practical victory, if we raise the empty hands of faith moment by moment and accept the gift. This is the victory that overcomes the world. God has promised, and the Bible has said, that there is a way to escape temptation. By God’s grace we should want that escape”.
Francis Schaeffer

"To tempt another is worse than to sin thyself. When you tempt, you do that which you cannot undo with your repentance." William Gurnall

“Learn to say "no." It will be of more use to you than to be able to read Latin”. Charles Haddon Spurgeon

4. Sin -

“Sin is believing the lie that you are self-created, self-dependent, and self-sustained”. St Augustine of Hippo

“Sin is the missing of a target, a wandering from the path, a straying from the fold. Sin is a hard heart and stiff neck. Sin is blindness and deafness. It is both the overstepping of a line and the failure to reach it - both transgression and shortcoming. Sin is a beast crouching at the door. In sin, people attack or evade or neglect their divine calling. Above all, sin disrupts and resists the vital human relation to God”. Cornelius Plantinga

“Some psychological and sociological conditioning occurs in everyone’s life, and this affects the decisions they make. But we must resist the modern concept that all sin can be explained merely on the basis of conditioning”. Francis A. Schaeffer

“In weighing our sins let us not use a deceitful balance, weighing at our own discretion what we will, and how we will, calling this heavy and that light; but let us use the divine balance of the Holy Scriptures, as taken from the treasury of the Lord, and by it weigh every offence, nay, not weigh, but rather recognise what has already been weighed by the Lord”. St Augustine of Hippo

“May God's grace give you the necessary humility. Try not to think - much less speak - of ‘their’ sins. One's own are a much more profitable theme! And if on consideration, one can find no faults on one's own side, then cry for mercy: for this must be a most dangerous delusion”. C.S. Lewis

“Sin wouldn’t be so attractive if the wages were paid immediately”. Author unknown

“Few sinners are saved after the first twenty minutes of a sermon”. Mark Twain

3. Fasting -

“Do you fast? Give me proof of it by your works. If you see a poor man, take pity on him. If you see a friend being honoured, do not envy him.

Do not let only your mouth fast, but also the eye and the ear and the feet and the hands, and all the members of our bodies.

Let the hands fast, being free of avarice. Let the feet fast, by ceasing to run after sin. Let the eyes fast, by disciplining them not to glare at that which is sinful.

Let the ear fast, by not listening to evil talk or gossip. Let the mouth fast from foul words and unjust criticism.

For what good is it if we abstain from birds and fishes, but bite and devour our brothers?

May He who came to the world to save sinners strengthen us to complete the fast with humility. Have mercy on us, and save us, O Lord”. St John Chrysostom

“Fastings and vigils without a special object in view are time run to waste”. David Livingstone

2. Prayer -

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances”. St Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5.17

“The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words”.
St Paul in Romans 8.26

“When I apply myself to prayer, I feel all my spirit and all my soul lift itself up without any care or effort of mine; and it continues as it were suspended and firmly fixed in God, as in its centre and place of rest”. Brother Lawrence

“That prayer has great power that a person makes with all her might. It makes a sour heart sweet, a sad heart merry, a poor heart rich, a foolish heart wise, a timid heart brave, a sick heart well, a blind heart full of sight, a cold heart ardent. It draws down the great God into the little heart; it drives the hungry soul up into the fullness of God; it brings together two lovers, God and the soul, in a wondrous place where they speak much of love”.
Mechtild of Magdeburg

“Pray inwardly, even if you do not enjoy it. It does good, though you feel nothing, yes, even though you think you are doing nothing. For when we are dry, empty, sick or weak, at such a time is your prayer most pleasing, though you find little enough to enjoy in it. This is true of all believing prayer”. Mother Julian of Norwich

“The Western Church has lost the prayer stamina of the mission churches in Asia, Africa, South America, Indonesia, and those of the underground Church in many parts of the world. Yes, we are good organisers, but poor pray-ers”. Paul E. Billheimer

1. Lent -

“Lent is the time for trimming the soul and scraping the sludge off a life turned slipshod. Lent is about taking stock of time, even religious time. Lent is about exercising the control that enables us to say no to ourselves so that when life turns hard of its own accord, we have the stamina to say ‘yes’ to its twists and turns with faith and hope ... Lent is the time to make new efforts to be what we say we want to be”.

from The Rule of St Benedict: Insight for the Ages
Sister Joan Chittister

What should I give up for Lent?

- Give up resentment and become more forgiving
- Give up hatred and return good for evil
- Give up complaining and become more grateful
- Give up pessimism and become more hopeful
- Give up worry and become more trusting
- Give up anger and become more patient
- Give up pettiness and become more noble
- Give up gloom and become more joyful

from Lent: Discovering joy in a solemn season
Father John Catoir

This series presents forty words for meditation during Lent. You are invited to reflect upon one word each day, maybe also joining the discussion sessions which will take place after the 11.00 service of Holy Communion on Thursdays at St Peter’s. There will also be three evening discussion sessions, which will be advertised separately.

Pondering on a Prayer

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:21:29 +0200

Listening to St Peter's choir sing Bob Chilcott’s ‘My Prayer’ at Matins recently was a wonderful and awe inspiring experience. Having studied the piece for many weeks as a choir member, I was unfortunate to be unable to sing on that occasion, but fortunate to be an informed congregational listener. ‘My Prayer’ is Chilcott’s homage to ‘Hear my Prayer’ by Purcell. We were lucky to hear both in the same service - the Purcell as an introit, and the Chilcott as the anthem.

‘My Prayer’ is a seriously melancholic piece whose disturbing passion not only challenges the choir with its technicality but has a similar effect on the listener. There is a creation of an unsettled atmosphere, a darkness where the usual constraints of structure are disturbed, harmonically and rhythmically. It is a piece where as a listener you can not sit back, but you are drawn to the edge of your seat. As a choir member, I was aware that this is a piece in which those who are singing have concerns with five beats, rhythms, and getting the entry notes right, etc. However, as happened in this service, there was also more than this, as each choir member strove to contribute towards the overall atmosphere created by the choir as a whole. Throughout Chilcott's ‘My Prayer’ there is an undercurrent of Purcell’s ‘Hear my Prayer’, which is communicated by the words, by glimpses of the original melody, through the dissonant harmonies and by the double choir setting. Having the Purcell as an introit and the Chilcott as an anthem was perfect programming and particularly apt for beginning of Lent. The choir's performance of both was near perfection.

You will hear many different responses to the music from both the choir and the congregation. It is impossible to sit on the fence. There will be likes, dislikes, but you certainly must come away impressed by the musical technicality, the performance and admiration for both Chilcott and Purcell.

Archbishop Faces Challenging Final Year in Office

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:14:02 +0200

Some months ago, there were rumours that the Archbishop of Canterbury would step down earlier than might ordinarily have been expected, but the announcement of his decision has already set the Church alight with speculation about who his successor might be. We must, however, not neglect to do justice to his ten years in the highest office in the Anglican Communion – a responsibility which he assumed at a remarkably young age, and one for which many people believed he had long been destined. Rowan Williams has brought to the Archbishopric a remarkable combination of theological and pastoral gifts, along with a deep humility and a great determination to hold the worldwide Anglican Church together at a time of increasingly deep divisions. It will be a pity to see him depart, and it will be hard to find a successor who is so widely respected among the different factions within Anglicanism.

It is highly likely that Archbishop Rowan’s final year in office will be an eventful one. The General Synod is close to agreeing the details as to how women can become bishops in the Church of England, subject to making whatever provision is finally deemed appropriate for those who object to this. There will no doubt continue to be headlines about this, along with the risk that the massive support in the Church at all levels for women bishops is overshadowed by the small but vocal minority of opponents.

Another issue, however, in some ways even more fundamental to the future of the worldwide Anglican Church, is now becoming increasingly significant. This is the proposed Anglican Covenant, which is currently being debated by all Diocesan Synods in the Church of England, and being voted upon by all provinces of the Anglican Communion around the world. It is crucially important for us not to ignore or neglect the importance of this debate, as the outcome could have profound implications for the nature of the Anglican Church for years to come.

The proposed Anglican Covenant is the result of much painstaking work by an international group of senior Anglicans, arising from a growing sense that recent strains and divisions within the Anglican Church around the world could not be ignored, and that a framework for keeping the Anglican Church together was necessary. The divisions are centred on (i) proposals in some provinces for services of blessing of same-sex partnerships; (ii) decisions taken in the United States to consecrate non-celibate gay bishops; and (iii) the establishment by some conservative churches, notably from Africa, of partnerships with similar churches in otherwise ‘liberal’ provinces.

Much of the draft Covenant text is uncontroversial, in particular those paragraphs which set out the main characteristics of Anglicanism as the Church has inherited it. It is the final section, however, concerning the resolution of differences with the Anglican Communion, which is beginning to arouse increasingly heated debate. Each province of the Anglican Communion is being asked to sign the Covenant, which will commit it to ‘common commitments and mutual accountability’. Participating provinces will need to ensure that actions they take within the Church in their area are compatible with the covenant, and ‘to act with diligence, care and caution in respect of any action which may provoke controversy, which by its intensity, substance or extent could threaten the unity of the Communion and the effectiveness or credibility of its mission’. The Church in each province that signs the Covenant will also ‘undertake to put into place such mechanisms, agencies or institutions … as can undertake to oversee the maintenance of the affirmations and commitments of the Covenant in the life of that Church’. If disagreements arise between Churches who are signatory members of the Anglican Communion, the Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council will endeavour to resolve these. It will also be able to declare whether an ‘… action or decision (by a particular Church) is or would be incompatible with the Covenant’. If a Church within the Covenant persists in pursuing a path which is not acceptable to the Standing Committee, it will be increasingly barred from participation in the decision making structures of the Anglican Communion (socalled ‘relational consequences’).

As the debate on the proposed Covenant grows in intensity in the Church of England, as well as around the world, positions are becoming polarised. Those who are in favour of the Covenant stress the need for doctrinal boundaries which define Anglicanism. Opponents argue that the Covenant would be centralising, punitive and represent a profound shift from the historic ethos of the Anglican Communion, which has always embraced a degree of diversity and allows for developments in doctrine which reflect new understandings of the world and of human nature.

At the time of writing this article, more diocesan synods in the Church of England had voted against the Covenant than for it. A serious crisis could, therefore, be looming, especially if the General Synod votes the same way. I suspect that a healthy resistance to a concept which, I believe, is very different from the Anglicanism to which most of us are accustomed, will prove very difficult to overturn, at least in this country. The character of the Church of England as espoused by most of its members and sympathisers is strongly anti-centralist, with a large element of pluralism, and this is very much the ethos which this parish has in recent years supported.

I am sure we will all want to wish Archbishop Rowan a peaceful and rewarding final year in office, but the prospects are, sadly, not encouraging.

From Gold medal to Gold standard

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:11:11 +0200

Sermon given by Reverend Christopher Harrison at Evensong
on Palm Sunday at St Mary’s church, Nottingham
1st April 2012

From Gold medal to Gold standard

The title of this sermon is “From gold medal to gold standard”. What, you may well ask, does this have to do with Palm Sunday? I thought I might as well join in with the flavour of the year by reminding you that in Jesus’ time, palm branches were associated with victory, in particular sporting victory. The Romans used to reward champions at the games with palm branches, which was rather like winning a gold medal at the Olympics. Palm branches, incidentally, also became a general symbol of victory amongst the early Christians – the victory of the spirit over the flesh, of good over evil, and the victory of martyrs over death. But when the crowds greeted Jesus, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, with the waving of palm branches, it was rather like welcoming a gold medallist into his or her home town. The triumph, they were saying, was his; the victory was his.

But that’s not quite correct, is it. For Jesus hadn’t at that point won any victory, or achieved any triumph – it’s rather that the crowds wanted and expected him to do so. They were greeting him as the Messiah, descended from King David, and saw him as the one who could rally the people, throw off Roman rule, and restore the fortunes of the nation of Israel. Their exuberance and enthusiasm were more to do with the victory they were willing him to win for them than something already in the bag. All the same, Jesus was no doubt already something of a celebrity, through his miracles and his readiness to take on the scribes and the Pharisees when they oppressed the poor and twisted the laws of God to their own ends.

But what does that first century gold medallist do? Does he take a well-deserved rest or start preparing for the next competition? No – because Jesus, following his victorious arrival in Jerusalem, plunges straight into another controversy – and indeed into perhaps the deepest water he’s been in hitherto. He goes to the Temple, the heart of the religious establishment – rather like St Paul’s cathedral, or the Vatican, we could say, today – and evicts the money changers and the traders. Quoting the prophet Jeremiah, he says that they have turned the house of God into a den of thieves – not so much for the commerce itself in which they were engaged, because worshippers had to buy birds and animals for their sacrifices, and had to change their money in order to pay the Temple tax, but because they were profiteering and putting money before God. So what Jesus did with his whip of cords and table turning alienated even more people than before, both among the traders themselves and those behind the scenes who were also no doubt doing quite well out of it. This action of his may well have been the tipping point, after which his opponents finally decided that enough was enough.

But how do we get from gold medals to the Gold standard? Well, at least the incident in the temple brings us onto economics. To jump forward several centuries - in the second part of the 1800s, and the first part of the 1900s, several countries, including our own, attempted to maintain both stable prices and a stable framework for international trade by linking the value of their currencies to the price of gold. If a certain number of pounds could buy an ounce of gold, and a certain number of dollars could buy an ounce of gold, this would give you the exchange rate between pounds and dollars. This meant, in crude terms, that business people, traders and financiers knew where they stood, since stability and predictability are usually good things for those making long-term economic decisions. You could indeed say that this arrangement, called the gold standard, helped to create a golden age of economic growth and international trade over quite a large part of the late Victorian period.

Serious problems arose, though, after the First World War. On the basis that a return to the Gold Standard – which had been suspended – would help our economy, the UK government made strong efforts to do this, and in fact succeeded in 1925, even though it proved to be very deflationary and costly in terms of economic output and employment. It also resulted in a pound which became overvalued, and we left the gold standard in 1931, never to return to it.

Economic historians will no doubt keep debating the details, but it seems pretty clear that the theory and a principle of the gold standard were no longer adequate in the face of changed economic circumstances in the 1920s and 30s. You can also argue quite cogently, indeed, that all the efforts to get back to and stay on the gold standard amounted to putting the interests of finance above those of ordinary working people, who suffered the most from the deflationary economics of that period. Some of you may have family memories, or even personal ones, of the depression in the economy during that time. And turning to modern times, all this is a lesson in the perils and dangers for an economy and a society which arise from giving in too readily to the interests and demands of the financial sector, when these are not necessarily to the advantage of the majority of people, even though they may plead that these is no alternative.

If we look back now to the overturning of the tables of the traders in the temple, we can similarly see those who had financial and political power benefitting at the expense of ordinary people. We can also observe a distortion of the basic principles of temple organisation and the worship of God so that a small number could profit excessively from it.

But what about our gold medallist, who, let us recall, was greeted as a victor before he had won any victory? Was he, like the traders in the temple, or like those who pressed for the reinstatement of the gold standard after the First World War, engaged in something which would similarly prove to be misguided, or against the interests of ordinary people? Did he in fact let the ordinary people down by not leading a rebellion against the Romans?

On the contrary; to paraphrase Einstein, who famously said ‘God does not play dice’, Jesus was not playing bingo with his destiny, or indeed the destiny of the world. He no doubt knew that earthly revolutions do not solve the underlying problem of human sinfulness. His path as Messiah, rather, was to take upon himself the sin of the world, suffering, in spite of being innocent, all that his opponents could inflict upon him, without resisting or fighting back. He knew what he was doing all along; indeed he had tried to show the disciples, a number of times, that the Messiah had to die for the people, like the suffering servant described in the book of the prophet Isaiah. His kingship was eternal and spiritual, not earthly or human. And so, both by setting the world a supreme example of compassion, forgiveness and sacrificial love, and by in some wondrous and mysterious way bridging the gulf between God and humanity, Jesus’ death and resurrection were to change the world for ever. That, then, is the pure gold of the crown that Jesus was to win; and that is the true gold standard to which all should aspire - but which only one person, Jesus the Son of God, could ever fully reach. Amen.

Holy Week & Easter 2012

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 14:16:37 +0200

Services across the parish during Holy Week & Easter

Sunday 1st April - Palm Sunday
8.15am - Holy Communion @ St Peter's
10.30am - Sung Eucharist @ All Saints'
10.45am - Sung Eucharist with procession of palms @ St Mary's*
10.45am - Sung Eucharist with liturgy of the palms @ St Peter's*
6.30pm - Evensong @ St Mary's*
6.30pm - Holy Communion with prayers for healing @ St Peter's

Monday 2nd April
1.15pm - Meditation @ St Peter's
7.30pm - Holy Communion @ St Peter's

Tuesday 3rd April
10.00am - Holy Communion @ All Saints'
1.15pm - Holy Communion @ St Peter's
7.30pm - Holy Communion @ St Peter's

Wednesday 4th April
8.00am - Holy Communion @ St Mary's
6.15pm - Evensong @ St Mary's

Thursday 5th April - Maundy Thursday
11.00am - Holy Communion @ St Peter's
1.15pm - Holy Communion @ St Mary's
7.30pm - Sung Eucharist @ All Saints'
7.30pm - Thanksgiving for the Institution of the Lord's Supper @ St Mary's*
7.30pm - Sung Eucharist & Vigil @ St Peter's*

Friday 6th April - Good Friday
12 noon - The Three Hours @ St Peter's*
1.30pm - Good Friday Service @ All Saints'
7.00pm - St John Passion - J.S. Bach @ St Mary's*

Sunday 8th April - Easter Day
5.30pm - Dawn Eucharist @ St Peter's
8.15am - Holy Communion @ St Peter's
10.30 - Sung Eucharist @ All Saints'
10.45 - Sung Eucharist @ St Mary's*
10.45 - Sung Eucharist @ St Peter's*
6.30pm - Evensong @ St Mary's*
6.30pm Festal Evensong @ St Peter's*

The churches and parish office will be closed the week after Easter

60th Anniversary of the Accession of Queen Elizabeth II

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:38:22 +0100

Sermon preached before the Lord Lieutenant during choral evensong at St Mary’s, Nottingham on 5th February 2012 by Rev Stephen Morris.

I should like to make my own small tribute to the Queen on this significant anniversary (some of which can be found in Nottingham in Faith, February 2012) and then go on to highlight and discuss the prominence and status of the Church of England in the light of her vows.

Like most people in the U.K., I can’t remember any other head of this state and even those who can will probably feel that this reign of 60 years marks the most stable (for some even the only stable) fact of public life since the years of austerity and recovery following World War II. It has been a period of massive change to social, economic, technological and educational expectations; to science, travel and music; from the end of Empire to establishment of the EU; a broadening of ‘Faith’ to ‘Faiths’; Suez and ‘the bomb’ to 9/11 and Afghanistan and a constant swell of anti-institutional individualism and globalisation all overseen by a dozen Prime Ministers.

Neither can we remember the Queen actually putting a foot wrong. No gaffs, no discourtesies, no signs of lack of respect; nothing, physically, verbally nor on screen. True, there were the most difficult days following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Who else would have allowed the general public to tell them how to negotiate the trauma of violent death in the family and, with such dignity, negotiate that as well? Without complaint.

This is not to state that the case for democratic monarchy is conclusive. However, it does demonstrate the enormous value to that case of having a monarch who has done so much so well at home, across the Commonwealth and around the world. A monarch who has so publicly declared and kept to her faith and ours, while managing to show a welcome degree of inclusivity towards other faiths and cultures: she deserves tribute because it would not have come easily to everyone. Indeed, as the Queen herself acknowledges, it is the fruit of a God-given grace. We live in days of skepticism towards institutions and, particularly, privilege. It is an age in which public figures and so-called celebrities seem to be lionised merely for us to enjoy their fall. It is often easier to mock and undermine those who are leaders of nations and communities than to do as the New Testament recommends which is to pray for them. Her Majesty was prayed for at her Coronation in Westminster Abbey and, in one way or another, has been prayed for ever since. It seems good to continue to pray for her on this Jubilee of 60 years, collectively to thank God for her devoted service. May every one of us, like the Queen, be so inspired in living up to our own calling.

At her coronation in 1953, following the promise to govern the peoples of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth nations according to their respective laws and customs, the Archbishop asked the Queen the following questions:

“Will you, to your power, cause Law and Justice, in Mercy, to be executed in all your judgments . . . maintain the Laws of God and true profession of the Gospel . . . maintain in the United Kingdom the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law . . . maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of England, and the doctrine, worship and government thereof, as by law established in England, and will you preserve unto the Bishops and Clergy of the Church of England, and to the Churches committed to their charge, all such rights and privileges, as by law do or shall appertain to them or any of them?” The Queen replied, “All this I promise to do.” and proceeded to the altar and signed the oath.

I make no qualifications to my words of thankfulness and indeed admiration for what the Coronation service describes as the Queen’s Christian ministry. But I must address the reality that every institution has changed since her accession and none more so than the Church of England - as has the context in which we minister that ‘Gospel of God’. 1950s, post-war Europe experienced quite a swelling of church attenders and sympathizers partly because it was regarded as something of a bastion against the recurrence of fascism, communism and other perceived threats as well as offering a return to the comparative peace and stability of life pre-war. But much of what lies behind the questions asked by the Archbishop is not only about establishment; it is also about privilege.

It happens to be my experience and conviction that the teachings of the Christian Gospel, as mediated by the Church of England, have long provided great benefit to the democracy, tolerance, development and prosperity of this nation. But it can easily be argued that sometimes that has not been true. Sometimes it has been privilege which has been pursued rather than the humble obligations that are essential to avoid neglecting or abusing the Church’s role as part of the Establishment. We are called to be salt and light for the Gospel of love. If we are no longer salt or light then, according to our Lord Himself, we are not fit but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot.

So, it is not difficult to find on Google the expression of surprise that Her Majesty’s vows are so explicitly Christian or to find comments that such promises, reinforcing privilege, could/should not be required again. It seems to me that if future repetition of the Coronation Vow is challenged, it would be justifiable for the Church to argue in its favour but only on the explicit basis of servanthood rather than of privilege; as a facilitator of the common good (including those of other faiths) rather than of advantage or prestige; as Christ’s advocate for the poor and marginalized rather than for its own comfort. To be an Established Church is not our automatic right, never to be challenged, so perhaps our prayer should be that the Church is of such value to the nation that it is worthy of the privilege.

And it’s great to be able to say there are some wonderfully sacrificial ministries, lay and ordained, even in our own City and County. There are imaginative and productive initiatives which are often, and best, carried out ecumenically and sometimes with interfaith and secular participation. This very moment, just such an initiative, the Nottingham Winter Shelter, is supporting some very vulnerable people just down the road at St Saviour’s in the Meadows as it has done for the last 3 winters. Indeed, the historic rootedness of the Church of England - and even its very establishment, at least in the hearts and minds of more people than is usually supposed - mean it is often accorded trusted status by those of other folds. It also, frankly, has more historic resources to facilitate ecumenical and inter-faith work as a consequence of its embeddedness in English life and culture. Its members make it the largest volunteer community in the country who contribute extensively to more work with young and old people than any other, partly because it is so rooted in every parish.

For all that, the Church has a mission and some of it is unpopular. In fact, if it isn’t sometimes unpopular, then it isn’t carrying out the prophetic role of its Master, Jesus, who called people to repentance and to radically altered priorities and ways of life. Prophetic roles do not guarantee popularity or votes and therefore, in democracies, need to be weighed, heeded and honoured for their own sake. True, there is always a risk, shown time and time again, that prophets can be tamed by Establishments and the Church must guard against that. But there will always be prophets and it may be better for everyone that they be given access and be heeded for their loving wisdom as of right, that is, from within a democratic Establishment, rather than from outside where they can become mascots and martyrs for more sinister causes.

A principal purpose of having a constitutional monarch is to prevent anyone else being head of state. In much the same way, if the Church of England were not Established and able to represent Faiths in our plural society, are we prepared for what may take its place?

May God bless Her Majesty in her continuing Christian, princely ministry and the Church whom she has promised to defend; may all those whose task is to serve both her and God find strength, courage and wisdom to do so in all godliness, love and peace.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

Workplace Chaplaincy - Linking with others

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:22:56 +0100

Not that I want to be seen to be endorsing products, but a certain online site which encourages business people to join and link up with others, is proving to be an intriguing concept. When this site first appeared, I thought of it as nothing more than an elaborate business card holder and I wasn’t sure of its potential use. However, as far as promoting the name of the workplace chaplaincy, it has been very useful. As with most of these sites, if they are used wisely, they can be useful tools. I have had people contact me quickly and easily when quite honestly, contacts wouldn’t previously have been made.

What the site shows you is just how many people we are connected to and who those people are connected to as well. As the saying goes, it really is a small world.

I had someone contact me who never thought he would see a contact in his business world that was to do with religion. He didn’t see how the two could possibly be connected! He’s not the only one; even if you are a Christian, it is sometimes difficult to see how what we do in the church connects with what you are doing when at work. The church certainly struggles sometimes to engage with its parishioners working lives. It doesn’t know how to help people make connections between faith and work.

I’ve spoken to people who don’t really believe that the work they do is significant to God. For them, it’s just a job to pay the bills – how can God be interested in the fact they drive a bus, fix the electrics or sort the mail? All I can tell them, is that God is interested – he’s as interested in those jobs as he is in any other job. God is intimately involved in our world and part of his love for us, is his interest in what we work at – whatever that is and however ordinary we might imagine those tasks to be.

Where churches often forget to engage with work is in the simple action of praying for people. When did you last ask your minister to pray for something that was happening at work? As ministers we are often asked to pray for someone who is ill but not so much when one is facing redundancy, or a manager who has a difficult or ethical decision to make. We can underestimate the power of prayer and don’t do it enough, possibly because we are worried that we might not have the right words. God isn’t interested in right words; he is interested in the intention in our hearts.

All work is significant - the Bible is full of affirmation of the work we do; “Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3.

Work is significant to God because we are significant to God – he is interested in us and what we do; he uses it as an instrument to get things done. God’s wish is for the world to be made a better place, a place where his kingdom flourishes. Work is what he wants us to do and our work is a context for us to use our God-given skills and gifts.

If we were to be a little more upfront about being Christian, we would be amazed how many people we can touch with the love of God simply by them knowing you are a Christian. Letting people know allows for potential conversations. We are to act as agents for transformation in the world. In the workplace we are called to be a model of Christ to others, a mouthpiece of Christ to others whether in tough times or easy times; we are called out to be part of the transforming mission of God.

The workplace chaplaincy is working hard to make connections across the city, linking up with people offering an informal and confidential listening service; a structured visiting programme in many workplaces and providing pastoral care and support. We have also discovered that we are ‘doing’ church in some of the workplaces by offering memorial services on work premises. Going to where the people are rather than expecting them to come into a strange environment. All this means we are linking up with people and making connections.

May I wish you all a Happy New Year and may your connections be fruitful!

Glorious Accession

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:18:32 +0100

As I write (mid January) there is a serious debate between London and Edinburgh about the Scottish Nationalist Party’s intention to hold a referendum on the subject of independence and the future of the United Kingdom. This necessarily involves discussions about all sorts of issues including currency, defence and sovereignty including, obviously, the Sovereign.

On Sunday 5th February 2012 our churches will be commemorating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and there will be a civic ceremony that evening in St Mary’s. We are slightly premature, the actual day being the Monday 6th.

I have often thought that Accession Days must be bitter-sweet events for the Queen since they necessarily mark the death of her late, lamented father, King George VI. Elizabeth II will be only the second monarch in the country to have achieved this sixty year landmark, first achieved by Victoria in 1897.

Like most people in the U.K., I can’t remember having any other head of state and even those who can will probably feel that this reign of 60 years marks the most stable (for some even the only stable) fact of public life since the years of austerity and recovery following World War II. It has been a period of massive change to social, economic, technological and educational expectations; to science, travel and music; from the end of Empire to establishment of the EU; a broadening of ‘Faith’ to ‘Faiths’; Suez and ‘the bomb’ to 9/11 and Afghanistan and a constant swell of antiinstitutional individualism and globalisation overseen by a dozen Prime Ministers.

Neither can we remember her actually putting a foot wrong. No gaffs, no discourtesies, no signs of lack of respect; nothing, physically, verbally nor on screen. True, there were the difficult days following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, but who else would have had to allow the general public to tell them how to negotiate the trauma of violent death in the family and, with appropriate dignity,negotiate that as well?

This is not to state that the case for democratic monarchy is conclusive. However, it does demonstrate the enormous value to that case of having a monarch who has done so much so well. A monarch who has so publicly declared and kept to our faith, while managing to show a welcome degree of inclusivity towards other faiths and cultures, deserves tribute because it would not have come easily to everyone. Indeed, as the Queen herself acknowledges, it is the fruit of a God-given grace.

We live in days of scepticism towards institutions and, particularly, privilege. It is an age in which public figures and so-called celebrities seem to be lionised merely for us to enjoy their fall. It is often easier to mock and undermine those who are leaders of nations and communities but the New Testament recommends praying for them. Her Majesty was prayed for at her enthronement in Westminster and, in one way or another, has been prayed for ever since. It seems good to continue praying for her on this Jubilee of 60 years and collectively to thank God for her devoted service. And may each one of us, too, be inspired,

Light Night 2012

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:14:50 +0100

Nottingham’s fourth annual Light Night is to be held on Friday 10th February around Nottingham city centre. St Mary’s and St Peter’s will be playing a part in the celebrations hosting a number of events and artistic displays.

St Mary’s will be offering another chance to soak up the atmosphere of the ancient candlelit building. The choir of St Mary’s will be singing throughout the evening as well as the Harlequin singers. Refreshments will be provided by the Friends of St Mary’s.

County Youth Arts have commissioned artists Pete Barber and Bec Smith to work with Mansfield’s Old Library Media Mash up to create a series of exciting and vibrant light drawings called Scrawl that will be projected against the west wall of St Mary’s Church.

Janet Fleming's Through Caverns Measured to Man will present a series of thought provoking light installations encouraging you to think about the beauty of light.

Outside in the churchyard will be a number of colourful light sculptures made from recycled materials created by artists Jess Kemp and Rosie Hobbs and disabled young people from across Nottinghamshire. There will be a chance to interact with the light drawings and to even have a go. Finally, Carole Beavis promises an intriguing celebration of happiness transcending the human body.

St Peter’s will also be playing an important part - the choir will be singing in the candlelit church and the coffee shop will be open to provide a welcome break from all the festivities. Further details including a full programme of Light Night events can be found at www.mynottingham.gov.uk/lightnight

Heavenly Music

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:09:28 +0100

Today, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius is a national monument. But at its first performance in Birmingham, 105 years ago, the music was thought daring and difficult, while the subject matter was viewed in some quarters with intense suspicion. The text of The Dream of Gerontius – by the Victorian Catholic convert, Cardinal John Henry Newman – is rich in doctrine that had been emphatically rejected by the Protestant church since the time of the Reformation. The central character, Gerontius (the name derives from the Ancient Greek gero¯n, meaning simply ‘old man’), prays for assistance to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to other saints, and after his soulsearing first sight of God, he doesn’t go straight to Heaven, but is committed to Purgatory for purification. For some Protestants in Elgar’s day, all this would have been pure heresy. However, one could argue that this is an essay in the transition from time to eternity viewed through the doctrine of the Roman Church.

Elgar’s debt to Wagner was recognised at an early stage of the work’s composition by his close friend August Jaeger (the ‘Nimrod’ of the ‘Enigma’ Variations): ‘Since Parsifal nothing of this mystic, religious kind of music has appeared to my knowledge that displays the same power and beauty as yours.'

There was something else Elgar learnt from Wagner – though, as with every influence on Gerontius, he digested it so thoroughly that the listener hears only authentic Elgar. Before Wagner, operas and oratorios tended to be arranged in numbers: arias, duets, ensembles, choruses – all more or less detachable from the larger dramatic argument. In his music dramas Wagner found a way of making dramatic works evolve continuously, seamlessly, like huge symphonies. Elgar achieves something very similar in The Dream of Gerontius. Some sections – like the Angel’s beautiful lullaby ‘Softly and gently’ from the end of Part 2 – can be extracted, with the help of a little surgery; but even then there are details (recollections of earlier themes, for instance) which only make sense if heard in context. And the sense of symphonic current – steadily, if at times slowly, unfolding – is essential to the work’s message. Early in Part 2, Gerontius’s disembodied soul describes how ‘a uniform and gentle pressure tells me that I am not selfmoving, but borne forward on my way’ Elgar’s music registers the sense of that ‘uniform and gentle pressure’ with subtle power. In a good performance, we can feel that we too are ‘borne forward’, through the Demons’ Chorus, through the angelic hymn ‘Praise to the Holiest in the height’, to the final, agonising yet transfiguring encounter with God.

On February 25 the Orchestra of the Restoration, the choirs of St Barnabas Cathedral and St Mary's join forces to perform this iconic work at 7.30 p.m.. Soloists are Keith Halliday (tenor), William Burn and Matthew Jordan sing the two baritone roles and Elisabeth Meister makes a welcome return having spent two years on the Jette Parker Young Artists' Scheme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and, most recently, from singing major roles in both north and South America.

St Peter's Choir at Durham Cathedral

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 20:24:05 +0100

The choir of St Peter’s enjoyed another successful residency at the beginning of January, this time at the magnificent Durham Cathedral. The visit started with a bang on Friday 6th with a Festal Evensong for the Feast of the Epiphany. Blair in b minor turned out to be the Dean’s favourite setting of the canticles, and hearing Rutter’s stirring 'Arise, shine' was a new experience for many. The weekend continued with Evensong on Saturday, followed by an excellent meal at St Chad’s College (where a number of our party were staying). We were joined by James Randle, Director of Music at St Chad’s, and former St Peter’s chorister; along with his wife Katie, the cathedral’s music administrator. As always, the support of our friends and families was greatly appreciated during this trip, and it was particularly good to see the Reverend Leslie Morley (Rector at St Peter’s, 1985-99) at several of the services. The choir also greatly enjoyed being verged into Evensong each day by our very own Michael Scott! An exhausting yet hugely fulfilling Sunday singing Matins, Eucharist and Evensong completed our stay. The Dean of Durham, the Very Reverend Michael Sadgrove was most complimentary about the choir’s singing, and it was a great privilege to be able to contribute to the worship at this greatest of Norman cathedrals.

Christmas Services 2011

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:49:47 +0100

Christmas Services, 2011

Monday 5th December, 7pm @ All Saints' - Nottingham Trent University Carol Service
Wednesday 7th December, 7.30pm @ St Mary's - The University of Nottingham Carol Service
Friday 9th December, 7.30pm @ St Peter's - SANDs service
Monday 12th December, 7pm @ St Mary's - Hollygirt School Carol Service
Tuesday 13th December, 2.15pm @ All Saints' - Nottingham Girls' High School Junior Carol Service
Tuesday 13th December, 2.45pm @ St Mary's - Grosvenor School Carol Service
Tuesday 13th December, 6.30pm @ St Peter's - Carols after Work
Tuesday 13th December, 6.30pm @ St Mary's - Civic Carol Service
Wednesday 14th December, 5.30pm @ St Peter's - Browne Jacobson Carol Service
Wednesday 14th December, 7.30pm @ St Mary's - Nottingham High School Carol Service
Thursday 15th December, 11am @ All Saints' - Nottingham Girls' High School Senior Carol Service
Saturday 17th December, 4.30pm @ St Peter's - Nottingham Bach Choir Shoppers Carol Concert
Sunday 18th December, 8pm @ St Peter's - 'Ceremony of Carols' - Britten (performed by the choir of St Peter's Church)
Monday 19th December, 6.30pm @ St Peter's - Courts Carol Service
Tuesday 20th December, 1pm @ St Mary's - Lacemarket Carol Service

Saturday 24th December, 4pm @ St Peter's - Family Carol Service
Saturday 24th December, 7pm @ St Mary's - Nine Lessons and Carols
Saturday 24th December, 11.30pm @ All Saints' - Midnight Mass
Saturday 24th December, 11.30pm @ St Peter's - Midnight Mass
Sunday 25th December, 8.15am @ St Peter's - Holy Communion
Sunday 25th December, 10am @ St Peter's - Sung Eucharist
Sunday 25th December, 10.30am @ All Saints' - Sung Eucharist
Sunday 25th December, 10.45am@ St Mary's - Sung Eucharist

Coffee Break Concerts

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:09:24 +0100

Coffee Break Concerts, December 2011

There will be a special series of Coffee Break Concerts at St Peter's Church in December. All concerts start at 11am, with coffee and biscuits served from 10.15am. Entrance is free, with donations to the music fund gratefully received.

Saturday 3rd December
The East of England Singers
Music for Advent

Saturday 10th December
SaraBande
Mahler Symphony No. 1 in chamber arrangement

Saturday 17th December
Maria Veretenina, soprano
with Peter Siepmann, organ

Choral commission in memory of Dr David Ray

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:18:06 +0100

David Ray was a Professor of Neurotoxicology at the University of Nottingham Medical School and a member of the Choir of St Peter's Church, Nottingham. He died on Remembrance Sunday 2010 after a long and courageous fight with lung cancer. Following his funeral, the idea emerged of commissioning a piece of choral music in his memory. In a unique and fruitful collaboration between the Medical School and St Peter's, and following discussions led by David's widow, the Reverend Joanna Ray, Rob Edlin-White and Peter Siepmann of St Peter's Choir, and Dr Lopa Leach of the university's School of Biomedical Sciences, we are delighted to announce that the British composer Howard Skempton has now been commissioned to write a piece of choral music in memory of David. Howard Skempton is a well-known composer of both choral and instrumental works. His style is accessible, appealing and effective, often characterized by a concentration on the quality of sound and an economy of compositional means, and with a strong emphasis on melody. BBC Music Magazine has said:

“Howard's music is elegant, British, civilised, with a touch of anarchy. I see him as a gentleman in a bowler hat, a briefcase - and sandals.”

It is intended that the first performance will be given by The Choir of St Peter's in the University Medical School on Remembrance Sunday 2012.

The Lord hath created medicines out of the earth; and he that is wise will not abhor them. And he hath given men skill, that he might be honoured in his marvellous works. My son, in thy sickness be not negligent: but pray unto the Lord, and he will make thee whole. Leave off from sin, and order thine hands aright, and cleanse thy heart from all wickedness. Then give place to the physician, for the Lord hath created him: let him not go from thee, for thou hast need of him.

We hope that these words from Ecclesiasticus 38 will form the basis of the text of the piece, possibly interspersed with words from two of David's scientific inspirations, the Spanish neuroscientist Cajal (who won the Nobel Prize in 1906) and the 15th century physician and polymath, Paracelsus. There are very few pieces of sacred choral music about medicine and physicians, so we hope that this exciting new work may find a niche wider than our commission.

Donations from members of the congregation towards the cost of this project (which totals £3000) would be very gratefully received. Please enclose any donations in one of the parish Gift Aid envelopes, with the front panel completed, and clearly marked 'David Ray Music'.

Lighting up the darkness this Christmas

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:12:43 +0100

It was deeply saddening to read recently that thieves had stolen Derby City Council’s Christmas lights, worth around £20,000, just before they were due to be put up in the streets. How, one asks, can anyone be so cynical as to commit such a crime? One wonders, moreover, how the thieves expected to be able to realise the value of the proceeds from their nefarious crime –who would want to buy a lorry load of Christmas decorations?

One can all too easily, however, allow such events to overshadow the value and importance of Christmas. It is, of course, the time when we celebrate the coming into the world of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, born into an outlying province of the Roman Empire some two thousand years ago. However preoccupied we become with preparing for Christmas Day itself, with all its traditions and customs, this high point of the Christian year should always bring us back to God’s wonderful gift of Jesus to the world. It is a time of light in darkness, hope amidst gloom, new beginnings and a new birth.

For some, however, Christmas can be a time of stress and pressure. There will be many this year who find that they cannot afford to do all that they would wish to do, maybe feeling that they are letting their families down by not being as generous as they would like. Those who are likely to be on their own may be especially vulnerable, as well as those for whom the images of happy families celebrating around the Christmas tree leave them feeling disconsolate and left out.

So how can the spirit of Christ truly dwell in our hearts this Christmas time? Maybe by reminding us to look out for those who are not especially excited by the prospect of Christmas, because they feel that they have nothing which they can look forward to. Perhaps Christmas can encourage us to give some time to those whom others tend to ignore. Or, possibly, we might see Christmas as a time for rebuilding bridges within our families and communities, trying to forgive and forget when this would help relationships to grow strong again, and looking for a fresh start when aspects of our lives need renewal.

At the centre of Christmas lies a birth – not just any birth, of course, but the birth of a child who was to embody total love and compassion, wisdom, understanding, and forgiveness. Jesus brought all these aspects of God to the world in a new way, and, through his Holy Spirit, bequeathed them to all who wish to follow in his footsteps. Of course we often fail to live according to these principles, but the Christmas message reminds us that even if we have strayed far from God, the love of God has reached out to all people in such a way as to offer everyone a route back to God.

May this Christmas time be truly blessed for you all.

City Debate - Faith & The Economy

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:25:23 +0100

Thursday 24 November 2011 5.30 pm, St Peter's Church

This City Debate will address some of the issues around faith, unsustainable debt and the world economic situation. Four speakers from the business world, including The Reverend Christopher Harrison, will give their particular view on the present economic crisis, from both a personal and Faith perspective. There will be opportunity for audience participation, and all are welcome to attend.

The Promised Land

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 17:11:08 +0200

Ahead of a visit by the Acting Dean of Jerusalem Cathedral to St Peter's in October, Christopher Harrison considers whether peace between Israel and Palestine will ever be possible

In the mid-1980s, I visited Israel. Alongside the deeply moving experience of visiting some of the holiest sites in the world, where Jesus himself had walked, one encounter stood out in particular. Three small Arab boys, sitting by the roadside in Jerusalem, asked me if I was a Christian. When I said that I was, they replied, 'We're Muslim. Same God'. I was so delighted with this spontaneous expression of a desire for mutual religious understanding, in the face of many centuries of conflict between Jew, Arab and Christian, that I didn't dream of bringing up our theological differences.

Where, I wonder, are those boys now? Have they been radicalised as the tensions between the West and the Muslim world have grown more severe? Have they become victims of the deepening separation between Israel and the Palestinian territories, symbolised most vividly by the wall which Israelis generally refer to as the security fence, and Palestinians as the racial segregation wall? And what about their Jewish counterparts? Such children have grown up in homes where family memories of the Holocaust are no doubt still vivid, and have lived with the constant anxiety caused by the possibility of suicide bombs or similar acts of destruction. Politicians have long wrestled with the seemingly intractable problems which arise from the clash between the security needs of the Israeli people and the Palestinian people's quest for a land of their own. Sadly, in the Western media we tend to hear more about the things that divide them, and the acts of violence, than about the signs of hope which do exist. There is in fact a growing number of initiatives which bring Israelis and Palestinians together, such as a support group for those who have lost family members in the troubles, joint commercial ventures, and the orchestra founded by Daniel Barenboim which includes both Jews and Arabs. In this complex arena the Church also plays its part. Christians in Israel-Palestine are very much in the minority, but contribute to initiatives of peace and justice as well as ensuring that their own voice is heard in the wider political and religious debate.

On Sunday 16th October, the acting Dean of Jerusalem Cathedral, Canon Hosam Naoum, will be the preacher at the 10.45 service at St Peter's, as part of a visit to our diocese by a group of Christians from the diocese of Jerusalem. Do make an effort to come and hear him; there will also be a question and answer session with him after the service, for those who have attended other churches. If you cannot be there on that day, there is an open meeting at Nottingham University with Canon Naoum and his colleagues on Wednesday 12th October at 5.30 pm (B63 in the Law and Social Sciences Building).

We must never conclude that peace is impossible. Thirty years ago, South Africa was deeply divided; the Berlin Wall was still standing; and Northern Ireland remained in the grip of sectarian violence. In all of these places, the Church played an important role in planting the seeds of peace and helping these to grow and bear fruit. Let us therefore keep praying for the peace of Jerusalem, and support those who are in the front line in working to bring this about.

St Peter's Coffee Room - Saturday Openings

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:57:57 +0200

The St Peter’s Coffee Room is now open on Saturdays until Christmas, raising funds for a variety of good causes including overseas aid charities and to support the music in our worship at St Peter’s and St Mary’s. Please do come in on a Saturday for coffee, cake or a light lunch and encourage family and friends to support these good causes.