Thoughts from the Vicarage (November)

Thoughts from the Vicarage

The Bishop of Colchester has agreed to conduct a Benefice service of confirmation on 25^th April, 2010, probably at Mount Bures, but why should you be confirmed?

When we are Baptised, our parents and godparents make statements of faith and promises on our behalf and we are welcomed into the worldwide family of the Christian Church.    When we are Confirmed, we make those promises, previously made on our behalf, for ourselves and we call on God for his Holy Spirit to assist and enable us in all our Christian living and worshipping. We confirm our commitment to God in Christ and he confirms that, through the Holy Spirit, he lives in us.

So Confirmation is all about us stepping up to the mark and publicly declaring that we want to be known as disciples of Jesus Christ. It is also a calling on God to give us all the resources we need to do the job to which he calls us.

Children who discover the value of belonging to the Christian community need to be helped towards public Christian allegiance and the day by day nourishment of the Holy Spirit.   Confirmation, therefore, is meant to mark a significant staging-post on our Christian journey. It is a very personal step for those who take it and at the same time a matter for corporate reflection and celebration too. We are all strengthened by being involved in such events.

In our benefice, we have made confirmation courses, leading to Confirmation or as a refresher course for those already Confirmed, a regular feature in our parish life.   We have found that a confirmation course can help move people, young or older, towards making a personal Christian commitment for themselves, perhaps for the first time, whilst helping all of us to review and refresh our own ongoing loyalty to Christ.

I will begin another 10 session course at The Vicarage from 30^th November to 22^nd February with a break for Christmas.   It will be suitable for Confirmation candidates and those who would like to brush up on their faith. 

Should you join he course?   If you would like to know more about the church and our faith and doctrine – yes; if you have not yet been confirmed – certainly!    And I pray that you will.    Let me know.   

God bless    Henry

A prayer for you to use in November

Bless those loved ones who have died, whether through war, accident, disease or old age.  May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace: grant them rest eternal and let light perpetual shine upon them   AMEN

GCSE….

Te following questions were asked in GCSE papers this year and the answers given by children in a town to the West of Wormingford….

Q. Name the four seasons?
A. Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar

Q. Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink?
A. Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists

Q. How is dew formed?
A. The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire

Q. What causes the tides in the oceans?
A. The tides are a fight between the earth and the moon. All water tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon, and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins the fight

Q. What are steroids ?
A. Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs

Q. What happens to your body as you age?
A. When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental (PS this reminds me of the old one – Harwich for the continent; Frinton for the …. Henry)

Q. What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty?
A. He says goodbye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery

Q. Name a major disease associated with cigarettes?
A. Premature death