22 February 2009

Welcome to St Alban’s Anglican Church

Today's Scripture : 2 Kings 2:1-12 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 S. Mark 9: 2-9

Today: 8.35 a.m. BCP Matins; 9.00 a.m. Church School/ Bible Study; 9.30 a.m. Holy Communion; EP 6 p.m.

This Week: Tues 12.30 p.m.: Holy Communion. 

ASH WEDNESDAY: 9.00a.m. Matins; 9.30 a.m. COMMINATION, IMPOSITION OF ASHES AND HOLY COMMUNION

Quinquagesima

O Lord, who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee: Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ’s sake.

Notes on the state of constitutional modernisation – a conversation between two pastors before the last round of negotiations (continued)

The main question to be considered by the CMA and SDA, therefore, is whether the proposed "Bill of Rights, Freedoms and Responsibilities" is sufficiently structured as possessing divine foundation, and sufficiently displays the corollary of a divine foundation, namely the undergirding of Relationships and Responsibilities, to enable Christian society to flourish. There is no question that very important moves indeed have been made towards this sort of structure from the base-line of a Bill that reflects only the "human rights culture". What will need further consideration is whether the working out of the present Bill may rely heavily on judges who currently revere the human rights culture and consider it to be an unalloyed good. The constituency of the CMA and the SDA still might not, according to reactions so far, judge that the amended draft is sufficiently safe in encouraging Christian society to flourish. I do think we have achieved the first underlined part of your statement. The last part of your statement is a fair and important observation. My sense is that we have made/influenced significant enough changes in the document to substantially mitigate against some of what we see happening elsewhere. The closer I look at this the more firm I am in my personal belief that we are going to be far safer with what is proposed than what we currently have (nothing at all in terms of protection) as I believe sufficient safeguards are built in to severely restrict activist judges from getting their way, because even if they try we have the opportunity to make representation to our elected officials to guide and direct possible changes consistent with the constitution and the Bill of Rights. While I believe God’s pattern of obedience to His Word is by far the best way to go. In the absence of such a commitment I am far happier with the proposal now than I ever imagined I would be that the Christian community/ church/school etc, would be able to continue to flourish.

Meanwhile the Church of England’s Mission and Public Affairs Council released a report last month (January 2009) including observations about the secularising effects of the UK’s Human Rights Act, and its inadequacy in protecting Christian values and practices where these are impacted adversely by judicial decisions intended to uphold other kinds of real or alleged individual rights. I still think we are in a better position than they are.

LENTEN RESOLUTIONS

Ash Wednesday is the start of Lent and the day on which people often "give up" something for forty days to prepare for Easter.

There’s nothing wrong with giving things up but sometimes it can be a good idea to do "something extra", something that you can continue doing even when Lent is over. A recent survey among Christians showed that the top ten activities to undertake during Lent were:

1.Extra prayer. 2.Acts of kindness to others. 3.Forgiving someone who has wronged you. 4.Participating at church by volunteering. 5.Taking part more attentively at liturgy and Eucharist. 6.Giving our time in service. 7.Using the Confession. 8. Acts of service and charity. 9. Giving money to people who are hungry or in need abroad. 10. Giving personal possessions to local people in need: clothes, books, shoes etc.

THIS WEEK’S BIBLE READINGS

Mon: Jeremiah 1, John 3:1-21, Galatians 1

Tues (S. MATTHIAS): Isaiah 22: 15-end, Acts 1: 15-end, John 15:9-17

ASH WEDNESDAY: Isaiah 58: 1-12, 2 Cor 5:20b - 6:10, John 8:1-11

Thurs: Jer 2: 14-32, John 4: 1-26, Gal 2: 11-end

Fri : Jer 3: 6-22, John 4: 27-42, Gal 3: 1-14

Sat: Jer 4: 1-18, John 4: 43-end, Gal 3: 15-22

NEXT SUNDAY: Genesis 9: 8-17, 1 Peter 3:18-end, S. Mark 1: 9-15