FIRST SUNDAY of ADVENT 29 November 2020

Dear friends,

We continue to share our faith, our hope and our love.

Please let us know if we can do anything more – or differently - to help you in these continuing strange times.

We hope that you continue to feel connected with your Parish and community, and we very much look forward to a time when we can gather together again freely, without fear, ...and our churches will once more be filled with worship and joyful singing!!

We can live out the Christian values of grace, mercy and peace; we can know God is with us, and will never leave us; we can find an inner peace and joy, even in the uncertainties and difficulties. Come and worship this Christmas – and let Christ come into your homes. Light your Advent Wreath, share the Christmas story, play and even sing the Christmas hymns and carols – hear the angels, and make a space for Jesus.

Advent is the period of four Sundays and weeks before Christmas with the word translating from the Latin for 'Coming'. This is the coming of Jesus into the world. ...

There are three meanings of 'coming' that Christians describe in Advent.

The first, and most thought of, happened about 2000 years ago when Jesus came into the world as a baby, to live as a man and to die for us. The second can happen now as Jesus wants to come into our lives. And the third will happen in the future when Jesus comes back to the world as King and Judge.

The four traditional advent themes for the four advent Sundays are

God's people -The Candle of Hope. Hope is like a light shining in a dark place. ...

The Old Testament prophets - The Candle of Peace. ...

John the Baptist - The Candle of Love. ...

Mary the mother of Jesus - The Candle of Joy.

A REMINDER TO LET REVEREND CAROL

KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE A BOOKLET for:

Please contact her on 01204 587150

This CHRISTMAS - more than ever - we need to hear the message of the angels, and to be reassured that God‟s light continues to shine in the midst of darkness. It is an encouragement that faithful Christians will wish to hear once more, and also a message of hope we can give as a gift to our wider communities.

Comfort and Joy is the Church of England's 2020 Christmas campaign.

Beginning on Christmas Day and ending on 2 January, each day explores a Bible reading and a familiar carol, encouraging us to look with fresh eyes at how the timeless truth of Christmas might shape our lives in these extraordinary times, and inviting us to hear again the message of the angels - good news of God's unfailing love for a world that is weary and hurting.

ADVENT – Do come and spend some time in quiet on Advent Sunday. Christ Church Walmsley is open from 10.00 to 11.00am – a place where you can be still and pray quietly. The Advent wreath will be lit. Start Advent in the quiet of the church. Whatever the restrictions, we can pray, we can make time with God.

Turton Moorland Team Ministry Advent Wreath devotion

Last week, you will have received the „Advent Wreath Devotions‟ prayer leaflet and this week, the „Advent Prayer Sheet‟, which explores the thread of themes in the Christmas Story: Faith, Hope, Peace, Joy ...LOVE.

We have invited people to make their own advent wreaths and here is the one made by Edna Welsby for Christ Church Walmsley:

Please do send your photos; instructions were given in last week‟s newsletter. This Sunday, say a prayer of blessing over your wreath:

Lord our God, we praise you for your Son, Jesus Christ. He is the hope of all peoples, and the Saviour of every nation. As we wait for his coming, bless this wreath, that it may be for us a sign of our faith, hope, peace and joy this Advent.

Here are photos of Advent wreaths made by Marlene Holt and Angie Foster. (Perhaps we can feature others in future weeks?)

ORIGAMI ANGELS Thank you to those who have been in touch about being part of this project. The children of Walmsley CE School are all going to make one and they will then be suspended in a net above the font AND on Reverend Carol‟s PRAYER TREE at the front.

Angie Foster & Ken Holt are still making angels and can deliver appropriate paper if you would like to make one yourself. Or you can have a prayer or a dedication written on one. Please contact Angie via Dawn Hitchen.

The plan is for the angels to be ready in time for the fourth Sunday in Advent so that they could be in place in time for Christmas.

If you haven’t yet bought your CALENDAR for 2021 from Jo & Stephen Woods, there are some available for purchase at Christ Church.

(Or contact them on 01204 303322)

All the money from the sale of these will go to the fund-raising for Walmsley Parish Community Hall. The calendars are £5.00 each, thank you.

Lesley Smith has shared this image (left) to give us pause for thought and to remind us that the first Christmas was indeed pretty simple. And we have the reassurance that it really is ok if ours in 2020 is pretty simple, too.

Irene Spencer has shared this amusing sign (right), which links well with last week‟s „PRAYER FOR PUTTING ON A FACE MASK‟: “Has Covid-19 forced you to wear glasses and a mask at the same time? You may be entitled to CONDENSATION!!!”

Our Team Rector, Canon Peter Reiss’s letter this week:

So we are starting again – a new start with new opportunities – No, not after “lockdown 2” – but Advent, the beginning of our Church Year, when we prepare our hearts and minds, prepare for the Coming – the Advent – of Jesus in glory and to bring in God‟s Kingdom – what we are waiting for and when all the struggles and tears and wrongs of this world will be gone and true freedom, peace and living will be for all.

But Advent is also for us to prepare, again, to think about Christmas, when this same God came in human form, born of a woman after nine long months in the womb, then many years growing to adulthood, when this same God was born in Bethlehem, a real place on a real night, to a real mother.

St John calls this Incarnation – or the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us.

Since the Victorian era we have developed what we think is the right way to celebrate Christmas. For the first time in many or our lives, we will not be able to do it as we would like. Even with some easing of restrictions we will be limited and constrained and we will not be able to do all that we would like.

Can we sing carols in church? We think not.

Should we decorate church as normal, as if there is no problem? We don’t know yet – what do you think?

Will we be able to gather together to celebrate Christmas? Almost certainly any church services will be strictly limited in numbers.

There are jokes going around about the Wise Men having to quarantine, the shepherds and angels told to social distance, Mary banned from travelling etc.

We will discover, maybe more deeply than ever before that Christ is the Prince of Peace, that God is with us, that light does shine in darkness and although it may appear to flicker, the darkness cannot overcome it.

We hope families and households are making an Advent Wreath, and will light a candle each week as we prepare. We have provided resources, with themes each week – Faith this week, then Hope, and then Peace and then Joy, and with Love on Christmas Day. Do use these resources and think on them. There is a brief liturgy to use when you light each candle (given with last week‟s newsletter and attached to the e-mail).

And for some, this Christmas will be very difficult – people we long to see are not able to come; families will be split up; there are loved ones who have died this past year, and we have not completed our mourning. We will have some lonely neighbours, and there are too many hungry people even in Bolton let alone our country and our world. As we ~ we pray ~ discover a deeper faith and peace, we must pray for those who are struggling, and think what we can do to help – in giving, and in making phone calls, sending a card, sending a gift, keeping in touch, encouraging others, listening to someone who needs to talk.

From recent online Team Services: local scenes with prayerful words...

Let us never take for granted the beauty we see in God‟s world ...and in His people. Amen

A reflection for the first week in Advent from our Team Rector:

Traditionally in Advent we begin with the prophets and then reflect on the message of John the Baptist before ending Advent thinking about Mary, called by God to be the mother of God‟s Son.

The reading for the first Sunday this year is from Isaiah – chapter 64

O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence — as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil — to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence! When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him. You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed. We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity. Yet, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.

Isaiah looks at the world and longs for God‟s intervention. He knows God is a holy God, and he knows that he too is part of the sinful world – we are all part of a fallen world; if we call on God as judge then we too must acknowledge our failings.

Advent is a time when we look back to remember the coming of God in Jesus – as a baby, as human – not the tearing open of the heavens that Isaiah imagined but an even more profound tearing open - as the eternal becomes one of us, heaven is opened and God comes down.

“how silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given”

We look back and we remember that Jesus is Emmanuel – God with us, that Jesus means “God saves”. The holy God, despite our sin, took it upon himself to bring a rescue. And Advent is when we look forward to a time when God will come again in Jesus, in glory, as King, when every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.

Isaiah sees what is wrong in the world and it propels him to pray – to call on God, while also acknowledging his own state. But he trusts in God as Father, he trusts in God as the potter who will work the clay, he trusts that we are the work of God‟s hand.

This Advent may we deepen our longing for the coming of God in justice and righteousness; may we deepen our understanding of the coming of God in Jesus as Saviour into our troubled world to be with us, and may we deepen our resolve to live for God, to live in his ways, as we look for his return and the fulfilment of his wonderful promises.

O come, O come Emmanuel Peter Reiss

A very beautiful and timely video clip was shared with me this week by Bev Keating: (Here are images from it but you will find the whole thing as attachment 5 in the e-mail)

The shared prayers across the Turton Moorland Team this week were taken from Psalm 19, with beautiful local images as backdrops to these beautiful words:

[For the director of music. A psalm of David.]

1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. 5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth. 7 The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. 9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever ...

14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

PLEASE REMEMBER: For those who don‟t have internet or social media, do check out the Church of England free resource: „DAILY HOPE‟. Friends continue to tell me that they have enjoyed this resource. Please do use it.

The Church of England free phone: ‘DAILY HOPE’ 0800 804 8044 to listen to hymns, reflections and prayers.

From Bill Braviner‟s #MorningPrayers we are encouraged to always show God‟s love in

our words and our ways... Amen!

Help us, Lord, to live lives worthy of your gospel, whatever our circumstances, that in us others may see your kingdom shining through. May the love radiating from the cross and empty tomb, show in our words and ways that your glory may be seen and your name praised. When we encounter storms, Lord, and the way is unclear, help us to keep our focus on you, to keep our heads and clear our thinking. Like Paul, may we offer leadership when others are confused or concerned, showing your love and following your Way to light and life.

With the Christmas restrictions having been announced ...and the promise that three households can gather, our grown-up children have been asking what we‟d like for Christmas.

My reply is always the same: “I‟d like PEACE, LOVE and HARMONY for the world!”...

My husband, however, sent them this as a suggestion (which had been forwarded to him by a friend): ...INGENIOUS!!

Thank you to those who continue to connect with others for your ongoing help and support. Please get in touch if you have any news, poems, prayers ...or words to share. Thank you.

You are in our thoughts and prayers. Love and blessings, Reverend Carol Hayden, Iain Stewart - Church Warden Dawn Hitchen - Church Warden + Authorised Lay Minister for Pastoral Care

If you need to speak with a church representative, please contact: Dawn Hitchen dawn@walmsleyparish.org or telephone 304142. Thank you.

Sharing our faith and praying for us all: Reflecting the words of John Evans:

We continue to plan for services in Advent and for Christmas, though restrictions and limitations will still be in place. Sunday Services will resume on December 6th – 9.30am at Christ Church Walmsley