Tuesday 16 th April 7.30pm Arguing with Power - an Iona-inspired service

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1 14 th il 2019 Wednesday 17 th il 7.30pm How deep the Father s love for us Thursday 18 th il - Maundy Thursday 7.30pm Maundy Thursday Eucharist Palm Sunday & Holy Week Welcome to St Faith s. If you are a visitor, we hope you enjoy your time with us. If you would like to know more about St Faith s, please fill in a Welcome Card which is found on the desk near the entrance to the church. The next week in the St Faith s Community Sunday 14 th il - Palm Sunday 8.00am Book of Common Prayer Holy Communion 9.30am Parish Eucharist 11.00am Sundays@11 See inside the Weekly 6.00pm Songs of Praise Notes for more Monday 15 th il information about all 7.30pm Mary Magdalene - film this week s special events Tuesday 16 th il 7.30pm Arguing with Power - an Iona-inspired service Friday 19 th il - Good Friday 10.00am Joint Lee Churches Service at Lee Community Centre 12noon Good Friday for Everyone 2.00pm The Liturgy of Good Friday 7.30pm Tenebrae Sunday 21 st il - Easter Day 5.30am Dawn Eucharist (starts on the beach near Pier Street) 8.00am Book of Common Prayer Holy Communion 9.30am Parish Eucharist 11.00am Sundays@ pm Evening Prayer

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3 Annual Parochial Church Meeting documents The APCM reports and accounts are now available in the church - please do take both documents, and read them before the APCM on 28 th il. Electoral Roll The new Electoral Roll is available on Sundays, for you to check your entry. Please do let us know if there are any errors. Elections to the PCC At the APCM on 28 th il we will be electing two churchwardens, and five members of the PCC. The PCC (Parochial Church Council) is the governing body of St Faith s and meets 6 times a year, on Tuesday evenings. If you would like to contribute to the life of St Faith s by joining the PCC, you need to be on the church Electoral Roll! Nomination forms are now available at the back of the church for those on the Electoral Roll to propose and second individuals for the above positions. (Do ask them first!) For more information about what these roles involve, please speak to one of the clergy, or to Luke Marshall, PCC Lay Chair. Flower Seeds Wanted Do you have any spare flower seeds? Becca Chamberlain and Rebecca Parrett are interested in receiving any spare flower seeds, to use for making seed balls at the Easter Eggstravangza on Easter Monday. Please pass your spare seeds to them, or drop them into the church office. Easter Flowers The Flower Team will be decorating the Church with flowers including white lilies & roses for Easter. If you would like to sponsor a lily or rose in memory of a loved one, there is a list for your loved ones names on the table at the back of Church, and if you would like to donate towards the flowers that would be very welcome. Sign up for Easter Day breakfast After the Dawn Eucharist (5.30am on Easter morning!), there will be a cooked breakfast in the Bulson Hall. If you d like to come, please do sign up on the welcome table, so we know how many people to cater for! 3

4 Reflection for Palm Sunday: Why did Jesus die? The question What is the meaning of Jesus death has dominated the Christian narrative, often much more than his life and teaching. I recently spent a day with a professor of theology who specialises in teaching the various interpretations of the meaning of Jesus death and he reminded us that we are not God! We are not meant to fully comprehend God s action in Jesus death. He used the analogy of the struggle for many of us to sort our computers when they go wrong or to work the TV remote control and yet we seem to expect to understand God! However, I think it is worth looking at the different theories in the New Testament and through the centuries since, so that at the least, we can glimpse the influences at work in our favourite hymns. If, when reading this reflection, you become totally confused and don t know what to believe please skip to the final paragraphs!! Christians start with our broken relationship with God and believe that it is through Jesus's death that it is restored. This is known as the Atonement which is the word used in Christian theology to describe what is achieved by the death of Jesus. In the Revised Standard Version, the word reconciliation replaces the word atonement. So, it is a basic idea in Christian theology that God and mankind need to be reconciled. However, there is no single doctrine of the atonement in the New Testament. In fact, perhaps more surprisingly, there is no official Church definition either. The New Testament uses a range of images to describe how God achieved reconciliation with the world through the death of Jesus. For example, John the Baptist describes Jesus as "the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world". (John 1:29) In Matthew 26:28. Jesus at the Last Supper says: 'Drink all of you from this. For this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is to be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.' Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3. Says I taught you what I had been taught myself, namely that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures. The image of Jesus' death as a sacrifice is the most popular in the New Testament which uses the Old Testament image of the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53:5) and applies it to Christ. The sacrifice of Christ is seen as the perfect sacrifice. In the biblical tradition sacrifice was a common practice or ritual. In making an offering to God the person making the sacrifice hoped to make or mend a relationship with God. The New Testament also frequently describes Jesus's death and resurrection as a victory over evil and sin as represented by the Devil. For many writers the victory was achieved because Jesus was used as a ransom. In Mark 10:45 Jesus describes himself as "a ransom for many". But to whom was the ransom paid? Was it the Devil or God? Anselm of Canterbury writing in the eleventh century presented what is often called the satisfaction theory of the atonement. 4 In this theory Jesus pays the penalty for

5 each individual's sin in order to right the relationship between God and humanity, a relationship damaged by sin. Only Jesus can make satisfaction because he is without sin. He is sinless because in the Incarnation God became human. In recent centuries, one understanding of why Jesus died for our sins has dominated. It is referred to as the penal substitutionary atonement theory and it suggests that Christ, by his own sacrificial choice, was punished in the place of humans, thus satisfying the demands of justice so that God could forgive our sins. We see this in the line the wrath of God was satisfied in the modern hymn In Christ alone This implies that salvation became a one-off transaction between Jesus and his Father, rather than an ongoing transformational gift of God for all humanity and for all of history. Another category used to explain the atonement is called the Moral Influence or Exemplary Theory which emphasises God's love expressed through the life and death of Jesus. Christ freely accepted an awful and undeserved death. This demonstration of love in turn moves us to repent and re-unites us with God. Peter Abelard ( ) is associated with this theory. He wrote: "The Son of God took our nature, and in it took upon himself to teach us by both word and example even to the point of death, thus binding us to himself through love, in order that we might do all things out of love rather than out of fear - love for him who has shown us such grace that no greater can be found." Abelard's theory and the call to the individual to respond to Christ's death with love continue to have popular appeal today and it influences many of our hymns. Were the whole realm of nature mine that were an offering far too small. Love so amazing so divine demands my soul, my life my all ( When I survey the wondrous cross, Isaac Watts). Various strands can be detected in Mrs Alexander s hymn: There is a green hill far away, outside a city wall, where our dear Lord was crucified who died to save us all. We may not know, we cannot tell, what pains he had to bear, but we believe it was for us he hung and suffered there. He died that we might be forgiven, he died to make us good, that we might go at last to heaven, saved by his precious blood. There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin, he only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in. O dearly, dearly has he loved! And we must love him too, and trust in his redeeming blood, and try his works to do. There is so much more to say - but I want to conclude by quoting Richard Rohr, the contemporary Franciscan theologian who writes: I believe that Jesus death on the cross is a revelation of the infinite and participatory love of God, not some bloody payment required by God s offended justice to rectify the problem of sin. Such a story line would be way too small and problem-orientated. I am inclined to agree! 5 Ann Leonard

6 Sunday 14 th il - Palm Sunday 8.00am Book of Common Prayer Holy Communion A traditional communion service using the 1662 order of service President: Paul Chamberlain Assistant: David Fordham Collect: Page 140 Readings: As for the Parish Eucharist 9.30am Parish Eucharist A formal choral service of Holy Communion President: Mary Kells Deacon: Steve Dent Preacher: Steve Dent Intercessions: Alfie Richardson Epistle: Philippians 2:5-11 George Langdon Gospel Reading: Luke 19:28-40 Alison King Chalice: Dorothie Garratt, Pat & Frank Cochrane, Frankie Gunns Hymns: Introit: Hosanna to the son of David Opening hymn: 509 All glory, laud and honour Offertory: 86 My song is love unknown Anthem: Holy, holy, holy F. Schubert Communion: 95 When I survey the wondrous cross Closing Hymn: 511 Ride on, ride on in majesty 11.00am Sundays@11 A service for all ages, with a music group, various media, and activities for adults and children. Leader: Steve Dent Songs: Praise is rising; You are the Christ; let our praise be your welcome; Hosanna. 6.00pm Songs of Praise A special service for Palm Sunday This service will include the top 8 hymns and songs, as voted by you! But we re not telling you what they are now you ll have to come along and find out! Frankie Gunns new address Frankie has moved house - her new address is 2 Fell Drive, Lee-on-the- Solent, PO13 8HP. Her phone number is the same

7 For your prayers during the next week Collect for Palm Sunday Almighty and everlasting God, who in your tender love towards the human race sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ to take upon him our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross: grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility, and also be made partakers of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Those to be christened: Noah Mooney Those who are unwell: Martin Over, Sue Harrap, Vicki Edwards, Angela Whitbread, Margaret Parker, George Fisher, John Fellows and David Almond Those who have died: Peter Wright Anniversaries of Death: Betty Mitchell, Edward Howard-Davies (15 th ), Marion England (17 th ), Eric Mckay, Keith Figgins (20 th ) Daily Bible Reading Notes from the Bible Reading Fellowship The Bible Reading Fellowship produces books for daily Bible readings, and Gillian Sinclair orders them on behalf of people in St Faith s community. The books for May - August have arrived. The cost for the whole year is If you wish to order a single book the cost is 4.60 per book. Books can be collected from Gillian Sinclair after today s Parish Eucharist or, during office hours, from the church office. Please pay when you collect your book. It is helpful if people put the correct money in an envelope with name and BRF on the front. Cheques payable to St Faith s (Lee) PCC. If you d like to find out about the range of publications from the Bible Reading Fellowship or introduce someone else who might like to have daily Bible reading books, please contact Gillian Sinclair on You can also visit to see what s available. Titles include: New Daylight Guidelines The Upper Room Day by Day with God Bible reflections for Older People Available in a variety of formats, including print, audio, and apps. 7

8 In the Church and Parish Centre 14 th -21 st il Sun 14 th il Church Bulson Hall Lowry Room 8.00 Holy Communion Refreshments 9.00am Choir 9.30 Parish Eucharist Traidcraft Stall pm Songs of Praise Mon 15 th 8.00 Silent Prayer 8.30 Morning Prayer 5.00pm Evening Prayer pm Luncheon Club pm Zumba Gold pm Yoga 7.30 Mary Magdalene film pm Zumba Tue 16 th 8.00 Silent Prayer 8.30 Morning Prayer 5.00pm Evening Prayer Rainbow Toddlers pm Yoga 7.30 Arguing with power Zumba Solent Writers Circle Wed 17 th 8.00 Silent Prayer 8.30 Morning Prayer 5.00pm Evening Prayer Home Instead Senior Care 7.30 How deep the father s love for us Weight Watchers Zumba Thu 18 th 8.00 Silent Prayer 8.30 Morning Prayer Mothers Union prayers 5.00pm Evening Prayer 7.30 Maundy Thursday Eucharist Fri 19 th Sat 20 th 2.00 The liturgy of Good Friday Good Friday for Everyone 7.30 Tenebrae Zumba Sun 21 st 5.30 Dawn Eucharist 8.00 Holy Communion 9.30 Parish Eucharist Sundays@ pm Evening Prayer Refreshments Sundays@ am Choir Sundays@11 St Faith s Vision: Our vision is to be a welcoming progressive Christian community of all ages and all stages of faith, nurturing spiritual growth, and representing God s living presence in our town. 8