Page 73 - Phonebox Magazine June 2009

Churches Together in Newport Pagnell
Moderator’s Letter we’re given a new voice
SUNDAY SCHOOL MOVE
The Parish Church Sunday school has a new home. With the impending demolition of the Brooklands Centre the children now meet in the conference room at the Swan Revived Hotel.
PARISH FETE
Saturday, June 13, is the date of the annnual Parish Fete. There will be stalls in and around the Parish Church.
PENNIES ADD UP
Throughout the year a number of parishioners have in their homes Children's Society collecting boxes into which they put their small change. These boxes were recently emptied and Beth Mackay has been able to announce that she has sent £715 to the charity.
PRAYERS AND A PICNIC
The Parish Church is organising a special all-age service on Sunday, June 7. This extra service starts at 11am and will be attended by members of the Sunday schools and uniformed organisations. After the prayers there will be a picnic in the church grounds.
WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR
On Tuesday June 9, the annual general meeting of the Mission Partnership will be held at the United Reformed Church, Newport Pagnell, at 7.30pm. The guest speaker is Joe Aldred and his theme will be “Who is my neighbour.”
Iam writing this in the midst of public outcry at the 'MPs' expenses scandal'. Every day someone else is named and shamed in the
newspaper, every day yet another personality whom we had considered to be honourable is revealed in a light that seems to be less than favourable. Suddenly ordinary people seem to have woken up and found a voice, and they can be heard expressing their dissatisfaction at the way things are, at the bus stop, over a pint, or over the vegetables in the local farmers' market. Commentators cannot remember when there was last such a serious crisis of confidence in the political system.
Now of course there can be something rather smug about the way in which the general public can enjoy seeing high office-holders pillaried and brought low; there may also be something very self-interested about the way in which the taxpayer is outraged at the way taxpayers' money has been spent. But equally I can't help thinking that there may be something very hopeful, if not spiritual, about the general dissatisfaction with the way things are. In the wake of protest about the size of pensions and bonuses, there is a longing for something that is different, for a system that is more open, more ethical and more just. In place of the indifference that can't be bothered to speak out there is an awareness of and deep discontent at what is described as 'toxicity' - a poisonous and corrupting mode of functioning which infects everything and which our Biblical writers might have described as 'sinfulness.' Beneath the expressions of horror, there is a desire for a new order, even if there is uncertainty about what such a new order could look like, or how it could be brought in.
The story of Pentecost is the story of God's new order into which people of all nations are inclusively drawn, through the power of the Holy Spirit poured out on the followers of Jesus. Ordinary men and women are transformed: those who are frightened are made bold, the apathetic become energetic, and the silent find a voice. Empowered in this way, they become agents of God's transforming Spirit, daring to speak in the name of Christ wherever they find themselves and no matter the cost. It's an extraordinary account of people being woken up to the ways and purposes of God!
If the people of God are given a new voice at Pentecost, it is in order to witness to the God whose righteousness makes demands of each and every one, not just of our leaders. We cannot point the finger in judgement at others, without understanding that we too are answerable to the same God, that we too are in need of God's forgiveness and transforming power. So if we are
to demand that our leaders examine the ways in which they may dishonourably have improved their lifestyles at others' expense, then we need
to examine ourselves in the same way. And when we do, we too are found wanting. We too have improved our lifestyles - at the very least at the expense of those in other parts of the world whose work does not receive fair and just remuneration. And there is no protesting that we have done everything according to the rules of trade - for if the rules themselves are toxic, there is little that is honourable in our simply not infringing them. We have to call for them to be changed.
So our boldness to speak leads us to self- examination. But equally, that same boldness, which comes from God, leads us not to cynicism but to hopefulness in the possibilities that God holds open for us. Just a few weeks ago, I joined a party from the MK Citizens group who were participating in a demonstration organised by London Citizens. (You may remember that Tim Clapton spoke to us about the work and vision of the community-organising group Citizens at a recent MP Assembly.) We had an early start, in order to attend one of the many services of prayer and preparation being held in churches and a mosque in the Westminster area, and as we came out of church we joined thousands of others to walk from Parliament Square to Trafalgar Square demanding the right to remain for undocumented migrants who have been in the UK for longer than four years. There we were addressed by a plethora of speakers, including political figures and bishops and Church leaders from many traditions. What sticks in my memory from this day is not so much the leaders and speeches, but the excited animination of the crowd. Drawing together people from many nations - some of whom had shown special courage simply by being there - we spoke with urgency and passion and with one voice. And the man standing next to me in the crowd peeped out from behind the banner he was carrying and said to me, ‘Do you think Pentecost was like this?’
Mary Cotes
Welcome to our Sunday Services
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
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
Phonebox Magazine 73