Vicar's Column

In the life of the church, November is characterised as a season of remembrance. It is a time when the church can be of especial value and service to the community. There is the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed on All Souls’ Day. This will be marked on the evening of the 1st with a service in which we remember loved ones who have died. Then follows the remembrance of those who have died in war: on Remembrance Sunday St John’s is usually packed out by uniformed organisations and community members. Alas, not so this year. It is not safe or feasible for us to host our annual British Legion Service. Instead, we would like to invite people to spend a few moments of quiet at the Lychgate/ war memorial, at a time of their choosing, during Remembrance week to read the names of the fallen and perhaps plant a poppy in the flower oasis provided.

On the evening on Remembrance Sunday we will hold a Peace Eucharist. This is a reflective service, a special opportunity to lament the follies of war and pray for peace. This will be our principle act of worship for the day. I hope you can join us.

Conflict will also be a theme on the Feast of Christ the King. Our guest speaker, Su McClellan, is from Embrace the Middle East, one of the missions supported by St John’s. Embrace led St John’s ethical Pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2016, where a group of us were exposed to the consequences of the ongoing conflict for the daily lives of Palestinians.

The appointed lectionary passages for this season all draw on the important theme of the reign of God, with particular emphasis on Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom of God (or Heaven). May we pray for God’s Kingdom to penetrate the darkness and despair of our troubled and increasingly divided world and for wisdom as to how we can be a part of that process.

Revd Dr Lisa Cornwell