Extraordinary times

Dear all Writing this month’s letter just a week before we were originally due to leave Europe I am minded to wonder just how the recent weeks and months before that will be seen in the course of time. How will history view these extraordinary times, of a divided nation, parliament and government as well as our prime minister, as our nation seeks to go it alone somewhat? This time will pass as all these things do; but what I wonder will be the legacy that is left behind? We will have to wait and see…. This month we celebrate Easter and I am reminded of how things didn’t turn out as the disciples and others wished when the person they thought was going to free them from foreign occupation; someone who could perform extraordinary miracles, was put to death in the cruellest of ways alongside criminals. Where had it all gone wrong they must have wondered? As the people watching on jibed Jesus saying ‘He saved others, let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, the chosen one!’ no one could really understand or know what would happen next. Luke’s gospel tells of how two of… Read More

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One year on...

March is here and I cannot believe it is now just over a year that our new united parish of Capel and Ockley has been in effect and that later this month we will be holding our first Annual Parochial Church Meeting together to review our first twelve months and set our sights to imagining the future. Just as nature around us is greening so too we are hoping that lots of new shoots and some young tender plants of church growth will begin to flourish and take root around our two communities. As I prepare to write my report for the APCM I can look back and reflect on all that we have achieved – the highs and lows, joys and challenges we have faced. Everyone has worked so hard to enable ministry to flourish in both villages and we are grateful for all the support both communities have given us. Each church has been able to hold a regular Sunday morning service three out of four Sundays in the month and then on the fourth Sunday we take turns to worship together at either Ockley or Capel. It has worked very well and for me it has been… Read More

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Looking back and looking forwards

Dear all Well hello from ‘panto-land’ – three performances down and three to go. So far, so good; it seems everyone who has seen Ali Baba and the forty thieves has thoroughly enjoyed it and so too are we performers I think! I have really enjoyed how the Ockley Dramatic Society production encourages people of all ages and abilities to tread the boards and especially the children who really make the pantomime special by their acting and dancing. It has been great fun. As I write this letter I am looking forward to Candlemas next Sunday which brings to a close the season of Christmas and Epiphany. Epiphany means revelation and all the themes of our services in January are all about revelation from God about whom Jesus was and is. St Margaret’s decided to keep their Christmas tree and other festive decorations up for the whole of January in church at Ockley – something which maybe has not been done before. This is perfectly in order as many churches all over the world do the same as technically Christmas doesn’t end until the beginning of this month. I can hear some of you scream in horror at the thought!!… Read More

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Let there be light!

Dear all Happy New Year! I hope you had a good Christmas and are now raring to go into 2019?! Oh dear, January is a tough month isn’t it. The Spring seems a long way away but at least the nights are already drawing out which is amazing. Light is such a marvellous thing isn’t it – we long for it in the darkness of these winter days and in the darkness of some areas of life too. So light is my theme for this month’s letter because before Christmas I went on a family trip up to the West End in London to see the Christmas lights. This turned out to be very exciting as I haven’t been to see the lights in town for many, many years and I had forgotten just how magical they are. The trip included a visit to Hamley’s toy store in Regent Street, which was suitably manic, with Christmas elves singing Jingle bells outside the store and being bombarded by bubble machines as we entered the shop. Never mind we survived even that! There were Christmas lights everywhere – more than I ever remember – but perhaps that’s because of LED now? The… Read More

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Strange preparations

Dear all On putting pen to paper so to speak, as I write, the weather has turned very cold! What a shock to the system after our beautiful autumn and the generally mild temperatures we have enjoyed. The central heating is definitely being turned up a bit! I wonder what this next month of December will bring? It is such a busy time of the year, although I think it’s busy in Capel and Ockley all year round with the amazing range of activities, events and groups that offer such a wide and varied programme. However, as we approach Christmas it always seems there is virtually no time in December before the 25th and so this month we I hope will enjoy the various Christmassy events on offer. The churches in Capel and Ockley will be hosting and supporting much of these so do study the December services and events list in this magazine to find the detail. Everything is also on our Capel and Ockley website too. If you haven’t visited it yet here is the address www.capelandockleychurch.org.uk So if your Christmas has to include donkeys, carols, Christmas trees, excited children, nativities, cribs, Father Christmas, mulled wine and mince… Read More

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Seven year review!

Dear all This month I will have been your vicar here for seven years which I can hardly believe. Where has all the time gone?! It certainly doesn’t seem like seven years; the time has literally flown by, yet these seven years have shaped our parish of Capel from one where I was appointed as a self-supporting minister under an arrangement of ‘House for Duty’ to a new united Parish and a full time Stipendiary role. (A Stipend is the ecclesiastical word for regular payment to clergy). Basically it means I am now paid! I was extremely happy to come here under House for Duty arrangements as I had other family commitments to honour as well as serving the church and community here. Those of you who know me and the work of clergy also know that ministry is rarely part time, so it was with great thankfulness that a couple of years ago Capel PCC agreed that they could fund a half stipend for the ministry I do. Now with the opportunity to join with St Margaret’s at Ockley, all agreed that this should be a full time stipendiary position which is wonderful. It is good for me of… Read More

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Autumn beginnings

Dear all September is here again and autumn approaches along with new beginnings for many with school, colleges, and further education. I always think it is an exciting time of year – a time to begin something new perhaps. Do you remember when it used to be called ‘evening classes’ or ‘night school’?! Well there is much on offer in our village of course with plenty of events and activities to choose from but here is a taster of some of the things we are offering that are kind of church based. Well, I’m not very good at science and maths and definitely should go back to school for those subjects but despite that one of the things I am looking forward to attending is a talk by our own Revd Dr Martin Gilpin from St Peter’s Newdigate who is going to give a talk on science and faith entitled ‘Belief in God: Is it rational?’. The talk is free and is to be held in Newdigate Village Hall on Friday 7th September at 7.30 and Martin who is a scientist by profession is going to discuss amongst other things: – the origin of the universe, the origin of life… Read More

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School's out and so are the scarecrows!

Dear all I am really enjoying spotting and generally being surprised by the different scarecrows which keep appearing in the village. How fun are they and how ingenious you scarecrow makers are! From the long green nose of what I presume is an upside down watering can to appearances between gaps in hedges to daring positions precariously scaling houses I am loving them! Scarecrows you see, throughout the village were before my time in Capel. So I have googled how to make a scarecrow and hopefully by the time you read this we will have one outside the vicarage as well. We also have a new addition to our vicarage in the shape of a new Labrador puppy called Ruby. Some of you will already know that Doug and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary recently – hence the puppy’s name – and this is our present to one another. We were very spoiled at both churches too with beautiful flowers, champagne at our PCC meeting and a fabulous card with our wedding photo on it (!) with a lovely Susie West print of the Isle of Wight where we spent our anniversary with our children and grandchildren which was… Read More

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Ordinary Time?

Dear all So once again we are fortunate to have fine weather for our vicarage fete tomorrow. As I write there is a wonderful array of gazeboes kindly lent and installed by many kind and very helpful people adorning our back garden. Lovely that we need them this year to keep the heat off us instead of the rain! I would like to thank everyone who has involved themselves with the fete, the organising team, the helpers who man the various stalls – a record number this year; those who prepare and serve the delicious teas and of course a huge thank you to those who have donated very generous raffle prizes. Hopefully we will raise lots of money for our schools. It is amazing how everyone together each playing their part creates something wonderful. I have also very much enjoyed playing a very small part in the Ockley Dramatic Society’s 70th birthday celebrations this last month. Something I’ve never done before I have to say! I was persuaded to as they say in theatrical circles I believe; tread the boards, in what was fairly obviously a comic play. I was given a ‘cameo’ role (more theatrical speak) as one… Read More

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Eco versus Techno?

Dear all, I am able to compose this letter on my iPad as I have been enjoying a few days off this week on the Isle of Wight! As usual I am right up against the magazine deadline but thankfully because of modern technology it can be met! These few days prearranged have coincided with several pastoral and ministry issues which have needed my attention by email and again modern technology has allowed me to still take time out and not have to cancel holiday time. Sometimes circumstances dictate I have to be available to certain things. Fortunately this situation doesn’t happen all the time in case you’re wondering whether I really ever do get proper time away! So I was enjoying Radio 4s Thought for the Day earlier and the subject was all about time. The broadcaster was Bishop Phillip North who incidentally will be a speaker at our Clergy Conference this year but more of that another time…. He introduced his thought by telling of an example of a little girl who when asked what she would like to disappear from her life answered ‘my mothers mobile phone’. The mum was spending so much time texting and speaking on… Read More

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To be a pilgrim

Dear all Some of you may remember the Diocesan newspaper which was a free distribution newspaper. It was called ‘The Wey’. It ceased publication some months ago now and in its place we have a brand new quarterly magazine for the Guildford Diocese called ‘Living Church’. I can recommend it! The first issue is here and you can pick up your own copy in both Capel and Ockley churches. There are several very interesting articles and one which caught my eye was one on the ancient practice of pilgrimage. It seems that increasing numbers are choosing to go on a pilgrimage and numbers are increasing. In the last decade 30 pilgrimage routes have been created or rediscovered in this country alone. In Europe the number of visitors to Santiago de Compostela has grown so much that more than 300,000 people or should we say pilgrims (!) walked the Camino in 2017. You may have caught a documentary on television before Easter which filmed a lovely but disparate group of people who tackled parts of it. It certainly looked gruelling! However, these days you can travel by coach and walk parts of it; I think that would be easier, but I’m… Read More

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Easter thoughts

Dear All, As I write this with the snow on the ground it hardly seems like Easter is nearly here and Spring has almost begun! However, Easter is approaching fast and when we do get the odd lovely warm day, it is a wonderful thing. By the time you read this we may even have celebrated the most important time of the Christian calendar. A time when we travel with the Lord Jesus to Jerusalem, continue with him through the Last Supper and accompanied him to the cross on Good Friday. And then the quietness and stillness of Easter Saturday as we await the joy of Easter morning when his disciples find the empty tomb and find him resurrected in a body which appears to show the marks of his wounding but nevertheless can appear and disappear at will. There are many ways of looking at Holy Week and the season of Easter and each year I find there is more and more to discover about the Easter events. Each event of Holy Week is a part of the Easter story and Easter will mean far more if you consider each one as they build up to the end of… Read More

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