This week
In the church
Friday (19th) 9am
The Act of Consecration of Man
Saturday (20th) 9am
Die Menschenweihehandlung (Act of Consecration of Man in German)
6pm
Evening Service with Sermon
Sunday (21st) 10am
The Act of Consecration of Man
11.15am
Family Service with Story
Thursday (25th) 9am
The Act of Consecration of Man
Friday (26th) 9am
The Act of Consecration of Man
Saturday (27th) 9am
The Act of Consecration of Man in Memory of Beryl Burdett
Online or Telephone
Tuesday: Discussion group 10.30 am and Poetry cafe 4pm
Wednesday: Selina available for phone conversations 3-6pm
Thursday: Discussion group 10.30 am and Gospel study 8pm
Friday: Tom available for phone conversations 3 - 5.30pm
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Update
The church is currently only open for the services. Our discussion groups and gospel study group are being conducted online.
You will notice that the new wooden floor is being laid in the foyer and corridors. This project, which we have been hoping to do for some time, was made possible by the generous legacy from Roberta Taylor.
We have changed the spacing of the chairs in the church. Where previously we kept 2 metres distance between the chairs that were available to sit on, we have moved to “1 metre plus” spacing. We feel that this is justified because of the other mitigating measures that we are taking. You will notice that we have spaced the chairs a little further apart than normal, to spread the upholstered chairs through the whole church. There are now 53 seats available. As always, you may sit together with people from your household. Please use the ends of the rows for this.
It is mandatory to wear a face-covering in the church and surrounding rooms, unless you are exempted. We are aware that they cause some of our members discomfort and misgivings. Thank you to those who have started wearing them out of consideration for others.
Please note that we need to avoid ‘mingling’ in the foyer and entrance lobby. This means that you cannot speak with anyone from outside your household. Unfortunately, it is also not permitted to congregate outside the church.
We hope that you will understand that we need to remind you about these restrictions, which we hope will not be necessary for long.
The priests are keeping designated times free for phone calls. Our numbers are listed at the end of this Update.
Selina will be available on Wednesdays from 3 until 6pm.
Tom will be available on Fridays from 3 until 5.30pm.
You are of course welcome to ring outside these times as well!
Please note that we will hold two services on Easter Sunday, one at 8am and one at 10am. Although we are increasing the number of spaces available in the church, we would ask you please to book by 27th March using this form, leaving us a message or sending a note to the church stating your order of preference for the two services.
With best wishes
Selina and Tom
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Lack and Abundance
Last week was Mothering Sunday where there was an abundance of cards, flowers, phone calls and appreciation. Like most festival days there is much joy associated with the day, whilst there is another side, which is less spoken of. Celebrations of any kind, also give rise to an awareness of loss, the lack of those we wish to share the day with.
This is a general pattern of human life; experiencing loss and experiencing of abundance. They are often found close by each other. This dynamic is also found everywhere in the Gospels. In the event of 'The Feeding of the Five Thousand' (John 6:1-15) Jesus deliberately makes the disciples aware of a lack by asking them "Where can we buy enough bread?". Jesus already knows about the abundance that is to come, but it was important that awareness arises of the needs of others and the apparent lack.
In Passiontide we are called to become aware of the ultimate 'loss of the Spirit' that humanity suffered in Pre-Christian times, to experience again the 'empty heart', and to enter in the mood of waiting. It is sometimes felt as a difficult and overwhelming mood to bear when experienced with the black colour of the altar and vestments together with the special festival words. What then helps us in this space between loss and the forthcoming Easter abundance?
The events of Jesus Christ as recounted in the Gospels, give us answers (as they often do!). This said event of the 'Feeding of the five thousand' gives us the key. Christ Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to the Father, gave thanks, and shared the abundance with five thousand present.
"Gave thanks..."
This is something we do and say all the time and perhaps alongside 'Sorry', it is the most used word in the English language. At the same time that we say 'thank you' a lot, there are many levels. We may say thank you for a birthday card as well as for someone saving our lives in an operation.
To give thanks is a spiritual power that existed first and foremost in heaven. That is why we include it so much in our lives, in remnant form. Giving thanks is the spiritual power that transforms a little into a lot, creates something new from what was given, creates spiritual abundance.
This is the same power that lives at the heart of our main sacrament - The Act of Consecration of Man. Here we ask that Christ take the bread with us, thank God with us and unite himself with it. Here, in every service, is the Feeding of the Five Thousand. At the moment only one small circular piece of bread is offered, given in thanks and the spiritual abundance that is received is too much for the amount of people around the altar that day; it is enough for five thousand!
May we cultivate then, amidst the mood of loss and emptiness, the soul mood of gratitude, that the abundance of Easter Joy may enter our hearts in the weeks to come.
- Selina
(Artwork and text)
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Announcement
The Funeral for Beryl Burdett will be held on 24th March.
The Act of Consecration of Man in Memory of her will be held at 9am on 27th March.
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Join us for an online Poetry Cafe!
Continuing theme: Suffering
This week we heard poems on suffering from Paul Celan, Dylan Thomas, Rainer Maria Rilke as well as self written ones on the theme.
We welcome all to this drop-in group who would like to sit back and listen to poetry. Just come along and have a nourishing listen with your afternoon tea or bring a poem that you've come across related to the theme.
~ Victoria Storey and Selina
Poetry Cafe - Tuesday 23rd of March 4pm
To take part in the Poetry Cafe, follow this link if you already use Zoom or would like to install it. Otherwise, you can join by dialling a national rate number: 0203 481 5237 and entering the following numbers when asked:
Meeting ID: 885 8806 8572 Passcode: 769554
The meeting space will open at 3.50pm.
The following quote is from Paul Celan on the importance of language and writing. Paul Celan (1920-1970), like his poetry, eludes the usual terms of categorization. He was born Paul Antschel in 1920 to German-speaking Jewish parents in Czernowitz (now Chernivtsi). Until the fall of the Habsburg Empire, in 1918, the city had been the capital of the province of Bukovina; now it was part of Romania. Before Celan turned twenty, it would be annexed by the Soviet Union. Both of Celan’s parents were murdered by the Nazis; he was imprisoned in labour camps. After the war, he lived briefly in Bucharest and Vienna before settling in Paris. Though he wrote almost exclusively in German, he cannot properly be called a German poet: his loyalty was to the language, not the nation.
“Only one thing remained reachable, close and secure amid all losses: language,” Celan once said. But that language, sullied by Nazi propaganda, hate speech, and euphemism, was not immediately usable for poetry: “It had to go through its own lack of answers, through terrifying silence, through the thousand darknesses of murderous speech.” Celan cleansed the language by breaking it down, bringing it back to its roots, creating a radical strangeness in expression and tone. Drawing on the vocabulary of such fields as botany, ornithology, geology, and mineralogy, and on medieval or dialect words that had fallen out of use, he invented a new form of German, reconceiving the language for the world after Auschwitz. Adding to the linguistic layers, his later works incorporate gibberish as well as foreign phrases. The commentaries accompanying his poetry in the definitive German edition, run to hundreds of pages. Here are his words on language in full:
"Only one thing remained reachable, close and secure amid all losses:
language. Yes, language. In spite of everything, it remained secure
against loss. But it had to go through its own lack of answers, through
terrifying silence, through the thousand darknesses of murderous speech.
It went through. It gave me no words for what was happening but went
through it. Went through and could resurface, "enriched" by it all."
"There is nothing in the world for which a poet will give up writing, not
even when he is a Jew and the language of his poems is German".
With thanks to Aina Balcombe for turning our thoughts to Paul Celan this week
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Happy news from the Barrs
Dear Forest Row community,
On Saturday early morning our 4th little boy came into this world. Everything went well for mother and child!
His name is Helgi Johannes.
This is in keeping with our Nordic connections . All the boys have Danish passports and the eldest speak Danish; I have a warm place in my heart for the Norse myths.
My wife has ‘heard’ the boys names before or around their births as mothers often do, and I have been inclined to gratefully accept her hearing capacity.
She told me that Helgi is Icelandic in origin and means the holy one. In pre Christian times it meant the happy one. These nuances felt quite beautiful- and there were special circumstances surrounding the lead up to his birth which suggested that these were appropriate.
The name Johannes or Johanna has always been a favourite of ours. It is pronounced the German way with the ‘j’ spoken as a ‘y’. We became aware of Thora’s pregnant status on St John’s day last year. It felt inevitable that a Johanna or Johannes was coming to us and would be acknowledged in its name.
With warm greetings to you all,
and we do still hope to see you this summer.
Yours,
Luke
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Discussion Groups from afar
We are now offering our discussion groups (10.30am on Tuesday and 10.30am Thursday mornings) and the gospel study group (8pm on Thursdays) for remote participation via Zoom. Zoom offers those who don’t have access to a computer or smartphone the opportunity to take part by ringing a phone number at the national call rates.
We will open the ‘meetings’ at 10.20 on Tuesdays, 10.20 on Thursdays, and 7.50pm on Thursday evenings, so that there is time to get ready before we begin.
If you wish to join the Tuesday morning group you can follow this link if you have – or want to install – Zoom.
To take part by phone, you can ring this number:
0203 481 5240 and enter the following numbers when asked:
Meeting ID: 878 9199 3921 Passcode: 211189. It's a national-rate call.
For the Gospel Study group (recommencing 28th January), follow this link or ring
0131 460 1196, enter these numbers when asked: Meeting ID: 895 6044 7039 Passcode: 643483.
For the Thursday morning group follow this link or ring
0203 481 5237 and enter these numbers: Meeting ID: 863 8299 2957 Passcode: 416000
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Easter Hampers
Robin’s Nest will be supporting the Forest Row Community Fridge again this Easter by contributing towards the Easter hampers for fifteen vulnerable families in the village. Instead of supplying complete food hampers as we did for the Christmas appeal we are concentrating on the festive element with chocolate eggs, hand-made crafts projects and Easter stories for all age groups, while the Community Fridge will supply the food. We have surplus monies left over from the Christmas appeal so instead of asking for your monetary donations we are asking for your voluntary support to create the craft project packages, write out stories and create beautiful Easter baskets with us.
We will meet at The Christian Community on Friday 19th at from 2 until 5pm. If you are unable to make this time and would still like to give your support, please do contact me and I can leave materials in the foyer of the church for you to pick up.
We will need to practise physical distancing at all times and for this reason please do register your interest so I can monitor numbers (contact details below).
With much gratitude and love,
Hannah Roberts
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Passiontide, Holy Week and Easter
We are listing all the events apart from the weekly Acts of Consecration (Thursday and Friday at 9am, Sunday at 10am) that are currently planned. Events are subject to change and the list will be added to each week.
The theme for Lent, Passiontide and Easter is Health and Healing
Friday, 19th March
The Act of Consecration of Man
Saturday, 20th March
9am Die Menschenweihehandlung (Act of Consecration of Man in German)
6pm Healing and straying into sin
Evening Service with Sermon by Selina Horn
Holy Week
Palm Sunday, 28th March
10am The Act of Consecration of Man
afterwards
Finding our humanity in the midst of the extremes
Address by Tom Ravetz
6pm Evening Service for Palm Sunday
Monday, 29th March
10am The Act of Consecration of Man
6pm Evening Service for Monday of Holy Week
Tuesday, 30th March
10am The Act of Consecration of Man
6pm Evening Service for Tuesday of Holy Week
Wednesday, 31st March
10am The Act of Consecration of Man
6pm Evening Service for Wednesday of Holy Week
Thursday, 1st April
10am The Act of Consecration of Man
6pm Evening Service for Maundy Thursday
Friday, 2nd April
10am The Act of Consecration of Man
3pm The Words from the Cross
Saturday, 3rd April
10am The Act of Consecration of Man
6pm Evening Service for Holy Saturday
(this is combined with the service for those who have died)
Easter
Sunday, 4th April
8am The Act of Consecration of Man
10am The Act of Consecration of Man
Booking needed for Easter Services. Please use this link, or leave us a note / voicemail at the church by 27th March)
Monday, 5th April 10am
The Act of Consecration of Man
followed by a festive talk:
‘For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.’ (Galatians 5:1)
Tom Ravetz
Saturday, 17th April 10am
The Sacrament of Confirmation
Saturday, 24th April at 9am
Die Menschenweihehandlung (Act of Consecration of Man in German)
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What makes us whole?
- as individuals
- as a society
- as a world
Over the last year, questions around health and illness have dominated the headlines in a way that none of us have experienced before. As always, crisis brings opportunities and also dangers. Perhaps more than ever, the world is waking up to the need to find holistic solutions to problems that do not respond well to reductionist thinking. We have discovered that a virus cannot be ‘stamped out’; that a divided society leads to desperate health-outcomes for all; that all our decisions affect the health of the whole world. Along with an upsurge in compassion and new thinking, we have also seen the growth of worrying tendencies in the measures that governments have taken and in the reactions of some of those affected by them.
In this context, the weekend event that we planned long ago with Michaela Glöckler seems more relevant than ever. We will look at questions around salutogenesis, the furthering of health and at the role of the religious and spiritual life in helping us and our world to become whole. We hope that this event will be informed by questions submitted in advance by those attending, and by the questions we gather through the days.
Friday, 7th May at 7.30-9pm via Zoom
What are the Sources of Illness and True Healing?
Talk by Dr Michaela Glöckler
followed by gathering questions to take with us for tomorrow’s discussions
Saturday, 8th May 10am-12.30pm
Discussion in groups and all together
Sunday, 9th May
The Act of Consecration of Man will be held at 9.30am in Forest Row
11 am via Zoom
The Medicine that Makes Whole – how does Christ heal us and our World today?
Talk by Revd Tom Ravetz
12pm via Zoom
Concluding plenum
The lectures on Friday 7th and Sunday, 9th will take place via Zoom.
The discussion sessions may be a mixture of Zoom and in person, depending what the public health measures allow.
We are asking all participants to register using a simple form, so that we have an idea of numbers. The form can be accessed here. Please note that you can take part in Zoom events by dialling a national call-rate number.
It would be a great help to us to receive questions in advance. Please email tccinfr@gmail.com or send them to the church.
This event is open to all but we would ask you please for a donation to support the work of The Christian Community and of ELIANT, which Michaela Glöckler has nominated for our contribution to her to support.
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Gospel readings
| Sunday, March 21 |
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John 8:1-12 |
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| Holy Week |
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| Palm Sunday, March 28 |
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Matthew 21:1-11 |
| Thursday, April 1 |
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Luke 23:13-32 |
| Friday, April 2 |
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John 19:1-15 |
| Saturday, April 3 |
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John 19:16-42 |
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| Easter |
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| Sunday, April 4 |
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Mark 16:1-8 |
| Sunday, April 11 |
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John 20:19-31 |
| Sunday, April 18 |
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John 10:1-16 |
| Sunday, April 25 |
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John 15:1-27 |
| Sunday, May 2 |
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John 16:1-33 |
| Sunday, May 9 |
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John 14:1-31 |
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Some useful resources
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Landline |
Mobile |
Email |
| Church |
01342 825 436 |
n/a |
tccinfr@gmail.com |
| Selina Horn |
01825 790452 |
07742 280147 |
selinaclarehorn@gmail.com |
| Tom Ravetz |
01342 458132 |
07749 662717 |
t@ravetz.org.uk |
- You can download a shortened, printable version of this email here.
- Reply to this email direct or by clicking this link.
- Gospel readings for the Act of Consecration of Man are listed here.
- Our Facebook page.
- Perspectives, quarterly journal of The Christian Community.
- The website of The Christian Community in Great Britain and Ireland has a blog where we are posting some of the material that priests have been sending their congregations in the last weeks and months. There is a facility to subscribe to that directly.
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