General Chat

Thank you Jiminy........as I said, it was just the way John phrased it.........nothing more. Noah is mentioned in the New Testament too.

Have a good night.



Thank you Kandj, hope your New Year is good too. :-D

Heard today that a homosexual can be a priest and hold any ordained office as long as he or she says they are not a practising homosexual.

Lot of criticism within C of E, but I cannot see that is against the Bible. All are equal in sight of God, all are loved. Sodomy is frowned upon. But if someone says they are living with somebody of the same sex and not in a physical relationship - how on earth would anyone know any differently. :-)

And they still won't admit women as bishops.

Chris. All three Houses of Synod voted overwhelmingly for female Bishops. It was simply that the "conservative rules" prevented straight majorities from succeeding.

It was quite an embarrassment for the Anglicans and perhaps this is one of the ways they will move towards a result that most Anglicans want. I note there is still a lot of internal criticism of this move towards allowing professed homosexuals to attain highest positions, and important that the C of E avoids any sort of schism over the matter.

My church has allowed women to hold every office (right up to President of Conference) since before I became a member back in 1987. But I do have a lot of sympathy for Anglicans, and they do need our love and prayers.

Sunday 6th January - Today we celebrate the Feast of the Ephiphany - The Visitation of the Magi to the infant Jesus and the His revelation as God the Son as a human being.


Our vicar was poorly today :-(

Our retired vicar led the service and a visiting lady vicar preached. Very good she was too - reminding us that we are 'the revelation of Christ in today's world'.

She reminded us that, as Christians, we are to set a good example of the faith in today's world. Food for thought indeed.


We have a community of folk from the Philippines in the area and several of them attend church. One of the families have recently have been coming for several weeks since they came to England and they have gorgeous two year old twin girls who are obviously used to going to church.

The little ones want to place their hands on people's heads to bless them. This is part of what they are used to in the Philippines. They are so sweet.

The husband is a drummer and is looking forward to playing with the young people's group when it is their turn to lead the worship.


All in all, a good morning with a very good sized congregation - just hope our vicar recovers soon.


Hope everyone else has had a good day too. :-D

Had a bizarre day today. In my chapel we had our annual Covenant Service. This is a long service with communion (Eucharist) at the end. It is borrowed from the Anglican Service started in 17th Century by Rev Alleyne.

One of the Scripture Readings was:
Romans Chapter 12 verses 1-2
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers and
sisters, by the mercies of God, to present
your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual
worship. Do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your
minds, so that you may discern what is the
will of God - what is good and acceptable
and perfect."

About 30 of us sat round with our senior Minister - held hands and said our vows. Very traditional, very nice.

This evening, at the top of the Rhondda, I drove through the snow to lead a small fellowship of about 8 in worship. Had picked hymns, written my talk, felt well prepared.

The pub is next door to the chapel. As we parked up, one of those in the pub said: "Why not come in here - it's warmer than the chapel". We suspected a trap, but we could see that he and a couple of his friends were quite serious to welcome us.

So we changed our plans and joined them. The leader of the group (a steel worker in mid-30's with 6 children, who had been a boxer professionally) bought all 8 of us a cup of coffee and we sat round and discussed our faith.

One or two ambled away to the bar muttering same old, same old, but some were visibly moved and had tears in their eyes as we all explained why we had so much faith. They seemed genuinely pleased that we had gone and discussed things in the pub.

So ended a wonderful and eventful day. And I still have my sermon in my pocket for another day
:-D :-D :-D

The bible comprises 4 Gospels,'decided' upon in the 4th Century AD by a Roman. Why are none of the other Gospels mentioned - is it Roman Catholic versus Gnostic, perhaps ??
Or is it, again, that little men with big ego's and much fear, pick what suits them best, and sod the writings of anyone who doesn't 'fit' their perception ( of course, ignoring that the stories were written long before them).
The earliest known writings were 30-40AD, and they did not include MMLJ.
And , CinW, had ALL the Gospels been available thoughout history, the 'Church' would have no option when it comes to Women in the Church ....
Just makes me spit.

Quite wonderful the way that the Canon of Scripture finally emerged in 4th century from a huge miscellany of writings.

The simple answer, MrD, was a lot of prayer by early Christians, a lot of dicussion. In many ways, how the church has kept so strong in every one of the last 70 or so generations.

Jesus, kindle a flame of sacred love
On the mean altar of my heart
There let it for your glory burn
With inextinguishable blaze
And trembling to its source return
In humble prayer and fervest praise

(Part of todays Covenant Hymn - O thou who camest from above)

Oh! MrDaff......no spitting perleeze --- SO impolite. ;-) :-D


There were so many things written about Jesus that it must have been really difficult to select which writings would give an 'allround' picture of things. I like the way the Gospel of John ends........


"And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen."



Sounds like you had a very interesting morning in the pub John :-D

I, too, like to come alongside folk in an informal setting and chat about the faith in a non-invasive way.


We have had two good days. Saturday was an Away Day where people were invited to come along and discuss how things are going within our church. We looked back to see what has been achieved and we looked forward to the future. Lots of positive ideas, thoughts and discussions every which way. Interspersed with laughter. The day began with Holy Communion and ended with the chorus "May God's Blessing Surround you Each Day".


I was so glad we went, even though it meant we had to get up at 5.45am in order to get OH's meds in order for the 10am start. He has so much to offer on occasions like this, that it's a shame if he has to miss out.


Yesterday went well too. For one thing, the vicar had recovered from whatever had ailed him last week which was good. The 'theme' through the Anglican church for the day was the Baptism of Jesus - interesting readings and sermon. We had large congregations and, interestingly, a lot of new faces, which is always lovely. :-D


All in all, a good weekend......I DO love my Sundays....... :-D :-D

Your church sounds a wonderful place, Cynthia. And OH sounds like a rock.

I note in my church, the most significant ones are very often the quiet ones at the back. They have a very private faith, but it is demonstrated by how they talk, and what they do. "By your fruits are you known" (as disciples of Christ).

Not intending to get into a debate about why the current books of the Bible were chosen. Why we only need MML and John. MrD is right that there are still literally hundreds of gospels and historical writings that never got added to the accepted 27 New Testament books. And so many manuscripts in various languages. It is a fascinating history, and I have particularly studied how King James (First of England, sixth of Scotland) brought together 54 of the most gifted men of his day to produce the poetical and memorable "Authorised Version". It is even rumoured that William Shakespeare was one of the 54 :-D

I imagine they would be turning in their proverbial graves if they could see the number of versions of the bible which are available - never mind the number of languages it has been translated into around the world, including an overview of the Gospels in Scouse :-D


Yes John, my church is a great place - not perfect of course - but great all the same.


:-D :-D

Cynthia. Don't mind all these Bibles. Particularly if they get people started. In my early days, the only one I could really understand was Good News (which is designed for reading age of 8, I believe). But it is a very good version imo. I love AV best, I love the thees and thous. But think I am in a small minority and I love to hear people reading out loud from the version that best suits them.

Those men in the pub last night seemed most impressed that we all knew where we were going at the end of this short life and that none of us was afraid of dying. They all said how scared they were - enjoying themselves now but really scared of the future.

I was 100% sure I was ready to die until I was faced with close death in 2001. Car was upside down in a ditch with no way to get out and I smelt burning. I was really frightened and that taught me a lesson not to be so cocky about death. ("Burning" smell was the air bags)

Even now, I think all of us are frightened about the process though hopefully not worried about what happens once we die. I am much more prepared now than I was 12 years ago, and really looking forward to what this foretaste of glory will develop into :-D :-D :-D But I hope I don't have to make my exit too painfully - just slip away at over 100 years old would be my choice. :-)

And so another Sunday :-D


My daughter goes to a different church and I usually drop her off there. On the way this morning, I passed an RC church and it was lovely to see people literally streaming in.....all ages.


Another good morning at my own church. It was Parade Sunday so the youth organisations were there complete with flags etc. Excellent crowd and a good service.


Hope you had a good Sunday too John - and anyone else who went to church of course..... :-D :-D

Lovely to hear about your Sunday, Cynthia. Mine was awful because of weather.

We had 12" on Friday morning and still very few cars moving. Service today was cancelled because so many elderly worshippers and pavements are very icy and none of side roads have had any grit. Still about 6"-8" and -2C no hardly any thawing.

Have recorded the Welsh service and will watch that before bed tonight.

Many thanks for posting - was wondering how you got on :-D :-D Wonder if any stories of heroism today to get to church??

I forgot you life in Wales John.......all that snow......arrrgghhh. I can quite understand why it was so awful.


We haven't had it as bad as Wales certainly, but enough to cause some disruption.

It's actually snowing more today than it did on Friday. It's a nuisance because I am supposed to be a meeting re autism this morning and then over to Liverpool to take my OH to an appointment at the Walton Neuro Centre. Won't be doing either sadly - I simply don't want to run the risk of running into traffic chaos and a) leaving him at home on his own or b) having him in the car in the cold.

Such is life :-D


Tales of heroism in getting to church would be wonderful but I think it's more likely to be a case of 'fair weather' Christians to be honest. ;-)

I managed to get to church yesterday and so did the vicar. We were few in number so gathered around the altar to celebrate Holy Communion.
I enjoyed the service very much,we did not have an organist as she could not get in as she is snowed in, so no hymns (which I love).
However I found the service very moving and peaceful and as always felt better for going. :-)

Leni. Well done you and Vicar and others yesterday.

We oftne do not have musical accompaniment now in smaller chapels. Sometimes they have a sort of musical box, which is ok if you can gallop along at same speed.

But very often we have one person who gives us a note on piano or sings opening note and we gradually all join in. As long as we know hymns :-D

I should imagine Holy Communion was very special and personal yesterday. One elderly lady was visiting he daughter and Vicar son in law in Bristol area. Her husband had been a Rector, and all her 3 sons were ordained men in C of E.

But that day, for the first time in her life, as her son in law (Rev Hall) handed her the bread and wine and said Christ shed his blood for you, Christ's body was broken for you - she realised that the "YOU" applied to her personally.

The year was 1739, the old lady was a widow called Mrs Susannah Wesley. And her 3 sons were Rev Samuel Wesley (48) , Rev John Wesley (35) and Rev Charles Wesley (31) :-) :-)

All 3 sons remained Vicars in the C of E throughout their lives.

Thanks for your post John, I found it most interesting . I am Church of

Wales and always enjoy what you post I find them most informative.

Leni

Hi Leni, it's nice to hear from you :-D

I thought John's post was interesting too. So many old stories around which are worth another telling.

Cx

Thought it was time for this thread to have a bit of an airing... :-D


We had an awful snowstorm on Friday night and I wondered how things would be for getting to church on Sunday. :-(

On Saturday afternoon, I thought I had better make an effort so I grabbed the snow shovel and set to work . Even though I am on a relatively main road, it's the getting ON to the road which is the tricky bit.

I huffed and puffed my way down my short drive, across the pavement and up towards the road......and then I noticed that one of the cars which had been abandoned during the night, was being reclaimed by its owners.

They sorted themselves out and then, to my surprise, came and asked if they could help....... :-D

The chap and his son were soon busy scooping the rest of the snow out of the way so that my car had a clear run to the road. I was so very grateful to them.

They were telling me how they had been on their 'up North' from Reading when the snowstorm had halted them in their tracks. Fortunately, they were only about half a mile short of their destination which is why they opted to leave their car and walk the rest of the way.

The chap said that plenty of folk had helped him out in the snow and now it was his turn to help someone else. :-D :-D



So yes, we made it to church and, during the service, a beautiful little girl from a local family was baptised. It had been a difficult week for me on the autism scene and I guess the vicar must have picked up that I was a degree 'under' because he called round in the evening and yes, he had realised what the problem was. Nice man..... :-D