St Thomas’s Vicarage,
93, Ferry Road,
Hullbridge
Essex, SS5 6EL
01702 231017
Email revharveyreed@revharveyreed.plus.com
My Dear Friends,
Here we are in mid February with blue sky but threatened with yet more snow! Spring is coming though, and the days are getting longer, which is the root meaning of Lent! We prepare ourselves and look forward in hope to the great festival of our salvation – Easter. And yet Easter starts with darkness and death on Good Friday, before the light and joy and new life of Easter Day, rather like winter and spring in a way. There is no doubt that our world, and in some ways our lives, are shot through with darkness, doubt, pain, suffering and evil, which at times overwhelm the joy and goodness, faith and light within us and around us.
Non- believers say that this is evidence for their position; that there is no God, and that if we just got on with life and made the best of it things would be a lot better. But would they? I seriously doubt it. Was life better in communist, atheist Russia? Not for the millions who died in Siberian camps or for those who struggled to feed and clothe their families while the government dictated what they could buy, what work they could do to earn a pittance, where they could live, and so on. There are other examples too. Man, left to himself tends to sink to the lowest depths, when he thinks that he is not accountable to anyone, or needs to please no-one except himself. Without God who is to say what is right or wrong? Who is there to guide us through the maze and keep us on the right path? Now I know that the Church does not always get things right either, but that is because we don’t listen enough to God’s guidance, or read the Bible in the right way.
God’s answer to our suffering and the evil which destroys so many lives is the Cross. We don’t need to understand how the Cross defeats evil, though millions of words have been written about it, for all explanations fall short. What we need to do is spend time with the crucified and risen Lord to see how He suffers our pain, is overwhelmed by the evils that beset us and transforms all of it by His Love and obedience. The Lent course goes into all this and I don’t mean to repeat what is said there, but one thought came to me as I was watching Sundays’ programme about the history of the Bible. Two atheists were arguing with Ann Widdecombe about the Ten Commandments and it struck me that they were SO angry that they had no real rational arguments to make. It was their anger at God and His Law which had so influenced their thinking, that one of them swept out of the room, slamming the door behind him. They seemed to blame God for everything that is wrong with the world and us, and in one way they are right of course, because we are the way God made us, in part at least, since we are also the product of our experiences. But the possibility of sin and rebellion is the price we pay for our freedom, for having the ability to choose how we behave and it is the price God pays for giving us this freedom. I don’t know what experiences had made the two non-believers so angry, but isn’t it part of the collective anger we all feel about the way things are, which made us crucify, as St Paul says ‘the Lord of Glory’? Generally speaking we take this anger out on the nearest current target, MPs, footballers, teenagers, bankers, immigrants etc, but when the Son of God was handy and available, He, though totally innocent, became the target with murderous results. The amazing thing is that Jesus did not answer in like manner – He didn’t curse and swear, didn’t even shout at His tormentors let alone fight back, He bore it all mostly in silence and GAVE His life for us. Jesus let us kill Him, take out our anger on Him so that He could transform it into peace with God and new life for all His people, friend and enemy alike.
That is the mystery of life, of God, of Easter, and it is only by letting God take our anger away that we can celebrate Easter and the new life Jesus brings – may this be so for each one of us this year.
Your servant for Jesus’ sake
Harvey
CONFIRMATION
This will take place in September this year and classes are about to begin. Please watch the Link sheet for details or come and have a chat. Anyone can join in, young, middle aged or senior citizen and the group or groups will be arranged to suit the busy timetables of the people concerned!
Harvey
ANNUAL MEETING ( APCM)
I GIVE NOTICE THAT THIS MEETING WILL TAKE PLACE AT Church on Sunday 21st March 2010.
We particularly need a new PCC Secretary this year and a magazine editor. Some new PCC members would be really good too …
St Thomas’ Church Hall is available for hire by groups or individuals for clubs meetings, birthday parties etc.,
Please contact Phyllis Gold on 01702 231190 for further information.
St. Thomas' House Group
A regular House Group is held at 45 Queens Avenue, Tower Park, Hullbridge. Please contact Pam Melvin on 01702 231104 for details.
SMALL CHANGE JAR (and other schemes!)
Just a little reminder of what this scheme is all about. It started in March 2001 when we were busy raising funds for the toilets and then for the driveway. We have continued the scheme since then as a small way of raising funds for the numerous miscellaneous items that are required by the Church.
What we ask you to do is to put your small change (1p, 2p, 5ps.) into the jar which is on the small table in the entrance hall on Sundays. As you can see from the running total of cash collected in this way, the pennies really do mount up – and hopefully no one feels the pinch in their pockets!
Many thanks to the people who have supported us over the years in this way.
There is another similar scheme which a few of us still contribute to – we save 20ps in a Smartie box (problems now getting Smartie boxes so any small container will do). This scheme goes even further back, to before the Rev. Harvey’s time – when we were saving to repair the roof! A full Smartie box will contain £14.00!! And again if you put just one coin in each day you hardly notice it! If anyone feels they would like to join this scheme please do so – you simply give the money to Beryl Soane when your container is full – and if you pay tax let her know as it is then possible to claim Gift Aid on the donation.
Yet another on-going fund raising initiative that we run is The Birthday Scheme, which has been in existence since 2003. To join this Scheme you register your interest with Linda Reed who will ask for your address and date of birth. When your birthday comes round you will receive a birthday card from St. Thomas’ plus a ‘Birthday Gift Envelope’. The gift envelope is then returned to church with a donation enclosed. The amount donated is entirely up to the giver.
Beryl Morriss
COFFEE MORNING
A Coffee Morning is held from 10.30am till 12.30pm on the last Saturday of each month throughout the year – with the exception of November (this month we usually hold our Christmas Fair) and December.
The March Coffee Morning is run by the Gentlemen of St. Thomas’ . This is always a special coffee morning and as well as the usual stalls we have a cake stall and a raffle – so please do your best to support our men folk – you will be pampered by them!
Beryl Morriss
HARP (HOME LESS ACTION RESOURCE PROJECT)
This is a Project which we have supported for many years (since 1993). We ask each member of the congregation (or friends of St. Thomas’) to donate one tin of food per month. These items are then taken each month to HARP in Valkyrie Road, Westcliff. There is a box under the large table in the church entrance hall for these items. They can also be left at The Council Office in Ferry Road (next door to the Opticians and opposite the Co-op).
The Centre provide food parcels for people in Bed and Breakfast accommodation and also cook lunchtime meals at the Centre for the homeless at greatly subsidised cost. All donations are very gratefully received.
We also send toiletries and bedding as the Centre provides washing facilities and the bedding is useful for the Night Centre in Southend.
TRAIDCRAFT STALL
St. Thomas’ hold a Traidcraft Stall on the second Sunday of each month following the Sunday service (which finishes at approximately 10.45am) when it is possible to buy a great many Fair Trade goods.
