Page 69 - Phonebox Magazine December 2009

Churches Together in Newport Pagnell
Moderator’s Letter
Just recently I was invited to speak at the meeting of a small group at St Augustine's Roman Catholic Church in Heelands. They were talking excitedly about the visit of the relics of St Teresa of Lisieux. One member of the group had attended one of the Masses and it was marvellous to be able to hear about it. As I listened to their account, I could not but remember a moment from my honeymoon, this last summer. Part of our tour of the western Mediterranean included a brief visit to Valletta, the capital of Malta. Duncan and I had been there before, and were familiar with many of the sights. As we had only a few hours, there was only time to return to one or two places. Coming from a Baptist tradition, I would have said that relics had little significance for me, and yet we nonetheless found ourselves wanting to return to the St. Paul's Shipwreck Church, which houses a relic of the saint's wristbone. Standing there prayerfully again, there was a sense of being connected by the grace of God, not just by place, but also by the presence of a relic, to those who have gone before us in faith. There was a way in which I had my awareness heightened of being part of the Christian church since the earliest times, of realising that if I in Europe had been able to hear and respond to the great good news of the Gospel, it was thanks to the vision and ministry of this faithful missionary, who centuries previously had been washed up on the island's shores.
I am ashamed to say that until the recent visit of St. Teresa's relics, I knew very little, if anything, about her, and it has been a wonderful opportunity to discover a little more about her life and her wisdom. She
CHRISTMAS TREES AND CAROLS
There will be an additional festive attraction in Newport Pagnell this year. Local churches are co-operating to present a Christmas Trees Festival at the Methodist Church. At least eight trees will be decorated and can be seen between 10am and noon and 2pm to 4pm on Friday and Saturday, December 18 and 19. The display may possibly be open on Sunday afternoon, too.
was born in Normandy in 1873, the youngest daughter of a watchmaker and man of piety. When she was but fifteen she received a special dispensation to enter the Carmelite Convent of Liseiux, where she spent the rest of her short life - she lived to be only twenty- four. In her autobiography, ‘The Story of a Soul’, she described her experience and her distinctive insights into the spiritual life. She called her method of spirituality ‘the Little Way.’ Teresa understood the path to holiness to be lived out in the small, yet highly significant, events of everyday life. ‘I am only a very little soul, she wrote, who can only offer very little things to our Lord.’ In many ways, her life was seemingly uneventful: it was not lived out on a wide political canvas, she was not a great public figure, nor an agent of momentous change, or bear witness before kings and princes. Yet Teresa showed that there is a continuity between our responses to the everyday situations in which we find ourselves and the 'great' arenas in which some of the great saints have offered their witness. The spiritual life is not just for people with a particular interest or gifting - it is a road down which we are all called to travel. We cannot remember her without being reminded that sainthood is not just reserved for the so-called 'big' players, but for those who are faithful in the very smallest things. In a world constantly trying to crack the secret of eternal youth, Teresa reminds us that in the eternal purposes of God, what ultimately counts is not the number of years we live, but the faithfulness in which we live them.
On November 1st we marked the feast of All Saints. It is a marvellous moment to offer
praise to God for the lives of those who, empowered by his grace, have lived their lives to his glory. We thank God for those whose names we know and remember - and also for those whom we do not know, but who are known to God. It is a wonderful opportunity to reflect upon those many people who have been saints for us, perhaps in small but highly significant ways: whose lives have touched ours and whose testimony to Christ has encouraged and nurtured us in faith. It may well be that some of us will want to give thanks for those who for us have been saints of the ecumenical movement: those who have shown us the way and held the vision before us; those who have been agents of change; those who have prayed for us and enabled us to continue the journey.
All Saints also offers us the opportunity not just to remember but as well to tell the stories of those saints. The sharing of such stories becomes part of our own testimony as we pass on some of the riches with which they have endowed us. Here in Milton Keynes, we are privileged to have been part of a special ecumenical story. We have experiences and tales to tell – and, I'm sure, we all have an ecumenical saint's story to tell. Part of our call as those inspired by the ecumenical vision is to treasure those stories and share them together so that we may celebrate together the heritage of which we are now a part. I shall look forward to hearing some of them, and to giving thanks for some the Saints of the ecumenical journey.
Mary Cotes
ANGLICAN
Parish Church, High Street 8am Holy Communion 9.30am Sung Eucharist creche and Sunday School 6pm Evensong and Sermon St Luke’s, Wolverton Road 11am Family Communion
Welcome to our Sunday Services – Churches in Newport Pagnell
BAPTIST
Lovat Hall, Silver Street
Rev Paul Rosier 616286 10.30am Family Worship with creche, Sunday School
CATHOLIC
St Bede’s, High Street Rev James Evans 671342 6.30pm Mass (Saturday), 9am Mass
METHODIST CHURCH
High Street 10.30am Service with creche
UNITED REFORMED
High Street
10.30am Family Worship
ICE . . . on your phone, could be a life saver
contact list, and the emergency services can easily find the number of your partner.
Fewer than 25% of people carry any details of who they would like telephoned following a serious accident. In the event of a trauma, it is critical to have this information within the golden hour which can increase the chances of survival.
The program encourages people to enter emergency contacts in their cell phone address book under the name "ICE" (In Case of Emergency). Another tip is to list your
In addition, any important contact information can be written down and placed in a wallet glove compartment or an appointment book you carry around with you.
partnerʼs number
the beginning keeps it at the top of your
Saturday, December 19, will also see the traditional open-air service on the Market Hill at 11am. There will be readings to hear and carols to sing.
On New Year's Day there will another of the popular walks around the town churches. It starts at St Luke's in Wolverton Road at 10am and calls will be made at the Baptist Church, the Parish Church, the United Reformed Church and the Methodist Church, finishing at St Bede's Catholic Church at noon. The walk can be joined at any of the churches.
as A A Spouse.
The A A at
Phonebox Magazine 69