January 2012 Outlook Magazine

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The Sodbury Vale BeneficeChipping Sodbury, Old Sodbury, Horton & Little Sodbury

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ContactsRector The Rev. Canon JaneKenchington, 01454 313159email [email protected]

Assistant Curate The Rev. Val Bexon,01453 521417email:[email protected]

Regular Weekly EventsMonday 8.45am Morning Prayer,

St John’s Chipping Sodbury7.30pm Bell Ringers’ practice

Church Tower Chipping SodburyWednesday 8.30am Morning Prayer,

St John’s Chipping SodburyThursday 8.45am Morning Prayer,

10.00am Holy CommunionSt John’s Chipping Sodbury

7.00pm Choir Practice,St John’s Chipping Sodbury

Friday 10.00am Tubbie TotsChurch Centre Chipping Sodbury

7.00pm Youth Club (age 11-18)Baptist Church Centre

ChurchwardensChipping SodburyPaul Jones-Williams1 Meadow Mead, Yate01454 324970Keith Stanley132 Harescombe, Yate01454 319467

Old SodburyVal Walker16A Melrose Avenue, Yate01454 318286Tony Dixon16 Chatterton Road, Yate, BS37 4BJ01454 321 528

Little SodburyNigel RawlinsLittle Sodbury House, Little Sodbury,BS37 6QA01454 312 269Nancy NagleWinchcombe Cottage,Little Sodbury End01454 319798

HortonTina Hildick-SmithKirrin House, King Lane, Horton01454 320380

Church OfficeOpen during term timeMonday, Tuesday & Thursday mornings9.00 - 12.00 01454 [email protected] Sitewww.sodburyvalechurches.wordpress.com

AdvertisingSylvia FranklinSt. John’s Church Centre07788 111 726

February DeadlinePlease can you have all editorial to

Michelle by January 14th.

If you would like to know more aboutthe Christian faith or are thinking

about baptism or confirmation pleasespeak to Jane or Val

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Rev. Val Bexon, email:[email protected]

Dear Friends,When we returned the Church in Chipping Sodbury back to its usual format after the CribFestival, I experienced similar feelings to those I get when I take the Christmas Decorationsdown at home. I felt sad that it was over – but also relief that I could now carry on with theother things that needed my attention. I’d dreaded the displays disappearing: they’d madethe building feel so much lighter and joyful – but when the pews reappeared I once againenjoyed their sense of calm order. Similarly when I take the decorations down at home itfeels so stark and bare, yet this sparseness seems to somehow symbolise the new space foropportunity and adventure that the New Year brings – space encourages us to reflect and ofcourse this is traditionally the time we make resolutions for the coming year.

As many of us lead hectic lives, allowing ourselves time to take stock and work out what isdeeply important to each of us can be really beneficial. What is it we really want our life tobe about? What sort of person do we really want to be and what sort of relationships do wewant to build? The answers to these questions could become the compass and motivators forour entire life – not just the coming year.

Most things in life that we value require hard work. If we consciously connect our efforts toour underlying values we see that what we do is worthwhile and it helps to motivate us. Forinstance if we value being a loving parent (or child) the time spent with our loved one in abusy day will be deemed worthwhile – however inconvenient.

Many of us spend large amounts of time doing things we don’t value highly - possiblybecause we live in a society heavily focused on achieving goals rather than on the way we dothings. Or even more destructively, we focus our efforts on avoiding discomfort – that is welive our lives trying to avoid painful thoughts and feelings and forget altogether what wereally value. An example might be the person who values feeling healthy and fit - but‘comfort eats’ to suppress their feelings of despair about being overweight.

I can recommend a sobering experience that I went through recently that’s designed tochallenge how closely we’re living in line with our values. Sit quietly in a chair and imagineyourself looking down on your own funeral. Imagine exactly who is present and who isabsent; imagine what they would say about you. Compare this to what you would wish thepeople you most respect to say about you.

Christians share many values. However, our personal values will be shaped by our lifeexperiences. I’m fascinated to watch how, in Church life, God uses our individual valuesand passions to work together to build something we could never achieve on our own – therecent Crib Festival was a great example of this. But this picture extends beyond the wallsof the church - if we are willing, God will creatively use each of us, with our ownidiosyncrasies, to advance his overarching values of love, peace and justice where it mattersmost to you. Will you be part of His movement in 2012?

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St John’s Chipping SodburyNativity Crib FestivalBy the time you read this, the Festival willseem to have happened a long time ago.Because of editorial deadlines, I’m actuallywriting this less than a week after ithappened!

The first thingthat I need tosay is that theFestival wasan unqualifiedsuccess. Iworked with asmall team ofpeople over a

period of 8 months; the team worked welltogether, each member contributing theirown talents and playing to their strengths.It has shown what good team work canproduce. During the actual Festival weekwe had many people giving a lot of timeand energy to help run it – and for all thesethings I am truly thankful. And, the thingto remember is that this venture wasundergirded by many people praying. Iwas further reminded of that when I wasstuck at home with my ankle and leg inplaster for the week, 10 days before theFestival started. “The Control Freak can’tdo anything now,” someone joked to me.

But what I could do was continually placethe whole venture into God’s hands and

ask God to do with us all what he willed todo.When I first floated the idea of having sucha Festival, I identified three main aims thatI hoped that we would achieve:· To find another way of proclaiming

the Christmas story;· To work in partnership with the many

different groups of people in this town;· To raise the profile of the church in

Chipping Sodbury.We can mark a tick against all three bulletpoints because those aims were met and

with more besides. Thisventure enabled me to be aLeader in Mission in thisplace (which is an importantaspect of my vocation). Godwas working powerfully inthis place last week. Whenelse have we had 3050

people coming through our church doorsin the space of five days? This venture ledme into forging and building all sorts ofpartnerships with people and groups in thelocal community and I look forward to uscontinuing to work with these people in thefuture. Onward and upward we go…So thank you to you all for playing yourpart in this venture.

Jane Kenchington

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New CMS Mission Partners

We welcomed the Cho family to St.John’s Church on Sunday December18th as our new missionary partners withthe Church Mission Society. Currentlypreparing to serve Christ in thePhilippines as a teacher of theology,Accompanied by his wife Charitas and

their son Hayoung, we were able to getto know each other, and pledge oursupport to them through prayer and giftsfor their time serving at StAndrew’sTheological Seminary in thePhilippines.Paul came to the UK with Charitas in1993 to pursue postgraduate studies toenable him to teach theology back inKorea. He completed his MA anddoctorate at the University of Kent inCanterbury, but God led him to ordainedministry in the Church of England and aschaplain to the Korean community inLondon, including the University ofLondon. Paul currently works for theOxford Centre for Mission Study, workingas Consultant for InstitutionalAdvancement and Supervisor forresearch students.Charitas has always worked alongsidePaul as a faithful companion. She (Over

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Well DoneHaving had the privilege of being able tovisit St. John’s Church during the week ofthe Nativity Crib Festival, I feel compelledto write to say how much Rita and I wereimpressed at the wonder of it all.The number of cribs that were on display –small ones, large ones, and from manyplaces outside the UK – we foundastonishing, and a reflection of the hardwork and dedication of all those who were

involved inbringing thisproject tofruition, andwhat wehope willhave been afinancialsuccess.Well done,all of you!

Thanks must also be extended to all thosewho sponsored the festival – their faith inits success must surely have beenrewarded. This was for us, and I am sure,for the vast number of people who came tosee the displays, a week to remember.Again, many thanks to everyoneconcerned

Reflections on the CribFestivalWow what a fantastic turn out for theFestival! I am delighted for you and allyour helpers -it makes all your hard workand organization worthwhile.Congratulations!David and I were fascinated with thedisplays and I enjoyed joining in with thedrumming too. It was also good to seethe other activities (and the camel).Please send on our thanks andcongratulations to all involved,

“Kirsty and David”

supported Paul while he was studyingand sponsored his teaching mission tothe Philippines. She has been workingfor CMS since 2004, initially in theMission Personnel Team and now as theFacilities Officer. In the Philippines,Charitas will initially be looking after theirson but hopes to be involved with streetkids ministry and using her IT andadministration skills.‘Do not neglect to do good and to sharewhat you have, for such sacrifices arepleasing to God’ Hebrews 13.1

We are probably familiar with the wordsof an Offertory Prayer ‘All things comefrom you, O Lord, and of your own do wegive you’. We are reminded that asstewards of God’s gifts we have aresponsibility to share with those whoare needy. St. John’s in ChippingSodbury tithes offertory gifts to furtherChrist’s work in three mission categories:1) local, 2) national, and 3) international.I guess I need not tell you into whichcategory our new CMS missionaries fit!See Steve’s article on pages 8 and 9introducing the Foodbank project as anexample of local mission.Keith Stanley

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F. WOODRUFFAdvent MusicOn the eve of Advent Sunday, and as aprelude to the Nativity Crib Festival,14singers, 1 organist and a conductor filledSt John's with a euphony of Advent Music.

The FitzhardingeC o n s o r t ,composed ofmembers fromBristol CathedralChoir, universitysingers and others,were joined by

members of the 100 strong audience whowere treated to a wide variety of musicincluding plain chant, Rachmaninov,Handel and Britten.A stunning evening; not one to be missedwhen they return next year - probably inthe spring or summer.

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Baptisms: We welcomed into the Church:Charlie Paul Stevens-Mayhead and EmmaLouise Latham on 11 December at StJohn’s, Old Sodbury

Funerals:We extend our sympathy to the familyand friends of:Colin Gowen on 25 November at StJohn’s Church, Chipping SodburyJoyce Knowles on 29 November atWesterleigh CrematoriumSylvia Dash on 9 December at St John’sChurch, Old Sodbury

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Feeding the Hungry, 2012It is the policy of the Benefice churches tosupport local, national and internationalcharities. Recently, the PCC of St. John’s,Chipping Sodbury decided to support thework of a charity that is local and national:Yate and Chipping Sodbury Foodbank,which started functioning at the beginningof November. As two of the Beneficechurches already support the work of theSisters of the Church in St. Paul’s, Bristol- a local charity - I thought it might behelpful if I outline the similarities anddifferences between these importantministries, both concerned with feedingthe hungry.

The Sisters of the Church are part of aworld-wide Anglican order of nuns with ahouse in St. Paul‘s. They started workingthere with children, but in 1995 peoplebegan asking for food, and it became clearthat feeding the hungry would becometheir main work. Now they feed about 400people a week, and rely on a force of 75volunteers to help them. Most of those

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January Guest PreacherBrother Damian SSF, a FranciscanFriar, will be returning to St John’s,Chipping Sodbury, to preach at ourBenefice Service (29th January 2012).It will be lovely to have him back with usand I hope as many of you as possiblewill be able to welcome him back toChipping Sodbury.

they feed are very needy, including somewho are addicts or alcoholics. The food isgiven with no strings attached and noquestions asked. As a result, someexcellent relationships have grown up withmembers of the community. Food andmoney is provided (as we do) by churchesin the Greater Bristol area, particularlythrough the collections at Harvest andChristmas, as well as by money gifts.

By contrast, Yate and Chipping SodburyFoodbank is part of a national movementthat has been going for 12 years, currentlywith 135 branches. It was started to bridgethe gap that can arise when an individualor family suddenly can’t afford food. Thiswill happen usually only in an emergency,e.g. when the breadwinner suddenlyleaves or someone is unexpectedly maderedundant. Foodbank is able to help with3 days’ worth of food to tide over theemergency, and this may be given on 3separate occasions. Those requestingfood have to have been referred in writingby a participating agency in the locality,e.g. a Job Centre, Sure Start, school ordoctor’s surgery. Donations of food andmoney are collected from participatingchurches and groups, and from thegeneral public on special collection daysoutside supermarkets. The localFoodbank operates from the CandleProject at 88 Station Rd., Yate, and isstaffed by volunteers, largely from localchurches. In the first month it has helped17 people. We will put a food collectionbox for donations, with a list of suitablefoods, in the porch of St. John’s ChippingSodbury in the New Year .

I hope that you agree that both theseministries are well worth supporting. Bothare involved with the essential Christiantask of caring for our neighbour in need.As the present financial crisis starts to bite,the need is bound to grow. If any of you

are interested in volunteering to help witheither ministry, please get in touch withone of the Benefice clergy.

Steve Abbott

Email OutlookYou can see this issue, together withpast editions of Outlook in vibrant colourby going to our web site.http://www.sodburyvalechurches.wordpress.comclick on Magazines, and follow the link

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You've been framedNot really, but the150 exhibits at theCrib Festival have,together with loads of'candid-camera'shots of those whotook part, visited,served the tea orhelped with MessyChurch.

I took around 800pictures and will soon put a collection ofthese onto CD (or more likely DVD) foryour amusement, education orentertainment. I will probably charge £5for a disc with the cash going to the CribFestival funds.

If you would like a disc please contactme by email - [email protected] - orsee me in church.

Messy ChurchThe aftermath of the CribFestival meant that thechurch was still full ofcribs and other exhibits onSunday, December 4th -frankly after 3,000 plushad visited it was startingto look a mess - so weheld a sort of MessyChurch. Over 100 peopleattended, very young,young and some not so

young spent two hours cutting, pasting,making things, reading,meditating and singingTaize chant. It was anactivity basedexploration with thecongregation sittingwherever they could insmall groups and beingchurch.

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Scenesfrom ourNativityCribFestivalMore on theback page……..

How did you do it?After 26 years ofthe Old SodburyCoffee Shop,organist GrahamNewman playedat the last eventon December21st. But thecryptic question ishow did he do it

with his arm in a sling? Rumour has it thatMargaret gave him a 'helping hand'

Photo courtesy of Rich McD

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Richard KenchingtonRichard Kenchington It was quite fantastic to see such a fullcongregation, everyone in their “SundayBest”; gentlemen in best suits and ties andthe ladies with fabulous hats! The childrenwere a delight to behold, the little girls inbright coloured dresses, hair braided inmany plaits also with colourful ribbons;boys in bright white shirts and highlypolished shoes.It was an honour to be welcomed and toshare Communion. It was interesting tonote that the children did not take part withthe adults but went up afterwards in singlefile for a blessing by the Bishop andreturned not only blest, but with sweets.We left feeling both honoured and humbleto have had such an experience.

Edward and Janette Wrighton

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Our memorable ServiceA Caribbean SundaySome years ago Janette and I, whilstenjoying a cruise in the Caribbean, werescheduled to dock on one Sunday inAntigua. We were somewhat put off by theprospect that everything in town would beclosed and that as we were in port therewould be no Sunday Service on board.However in order to make the best of it weventured ashore and found ourselvesoutside St John’s Cathedral where aservice had already started. We enteredquietly and found some seats at the backof a side chapel along with a few of ourfellow passengers. There were no ordersof service or hymn books as everybodyseemed to have their own, and as theservice seemed to follow the Book ofCommon Prayer it was reasonably familiar,however, not to worry, copies were quicklylent to us, which made it so much easier.

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Drummers WantedDuring theCrib FestivalSteve Jarvis,from ourDiocese, ranseveralimpromptudrumming

sessions and only stopped when theorganist needed to start his recital!

This was an incredibly popular event withall ages, and many asked “when are wedoing it again?". Well, we are lookinginto the viability of forming a drumminggroup, or groups, with either borroweddrums or ones that you can own yourself- and practice at home!We might need to look at a children's,women’s and men’s group. Many

expressed interest in doing this, so if youwould like to be kept in touch withdevelopments please contact Stuart [email protected] or catch him inchurch.

Star FundraiserDuring theCrib Festivalthis requestwas on displayat the side ofthe KiberaCrib.Visitor donat-ed their smallchange in avariety of col-ours to help

create this Star - and as a result over£170 was raised.

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Sodbury Vale Benefice Calendar January 2012Sun 1st

2nd Sunday ofChristmas /Naming and

Circumcision of Jesus

8.00am Holy Communion (BCP) St John’s C/S

9.30am Parish Communion St John’s C/S

11.15am Mattins (BCP) St James’ Horton

11.15am Family Communion St John’s O/S

No Service at Little Sodbury

Thurs 5th 10.00am Holy Communion St John’s C/S

10.45am Coffee Shop Church Centre C/S

Sat 7th 9.00am Benefice Prayer Meeting Church Centre C/S

Sun 8thThe Epiphany

9.30am Parish Communion St John’s C/S

11.15am Holy Communion St James’ Horton

11.15am St John’s Praise St John’s O/S

6.00pm Evensong (BCP) St Adeline’s L/S

Mon 9th 2.30pm Mothers’ Union Church Centre C/S

Wed 11th 1.30pm Women’s Fellowship Church Centre C/S




Sun 15th2nd Sunday of

Epiphany

9.30am Family Communion St John’s C/S

11.15am Morning Prayer (CW) St James’ Horton

11.15am Holy Communion (BCP) St John’s O/S


Wed 18th 10.00am Coffee Shop Village Hall O/S

Thur 19th 10.00am Holy Communion St John’s C/S


Sun 22nd3rd Sunday of

Epiphany

9.30am Family Communion St John’s C/S

11.15am Family Communion (CW) St James’ Horton

11.15am Morning Praise St John’s O/S


Wed 25th 1.30pm Women’s Fellowship Church Centre C/S




Sun 29th4th Sunday of

Epiphany

10.30am Benefice Communion St John’s C/S

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More scenes from the Nativity Crib Festival and Messy Church

January 2012 Outlook Magazine

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Transcript of January 2012 Outlook Magazine