More Church Weddings?

My local newspaper, the Reading Evening Post, has recently appointed a Faith Reporter to work alongside the Health reporter and the Education reporter et al and it has made a difference to our reported news. Here is a recent example -

"Couples planning to tie the knot now have greater choice over church weddings, thanks to new rules that came into force yestersay. Before the Church of England's new Marriage Measure, brides and groom-to-be would often have their perfect day marred by not being able to get married in their parents' church or the one they grew up in if they themselves were not still members of the parish.

But now couples can get married in any Anglican church in the country as long as they can prove they have a link to it. Couples just need to prove that one of them was baptised or confirmed in the parish, has lived in the parish or attended church there for at least six months. They can also wed there if their parents or grandparents married there and if one of their parents attends the church or lives in the area.

The Bishop of Reading, Stephen cottrell, who spearheaded the national launch, said, 'People want to get married in church but often the laws we used to have reflected a different society. When our laws were first nmade we didn't live in a mobile society like we do now. People were born and lived and died in the same place but now we all move around a lot.

It wasn't impossible in the past for people to get married in a different church but it was very complicated. We're trying to make it easier for people now. Really it's common sense and it's what people want. It's part of the church wanting to offer a beter service to people. I wish it had happened 10 years ago.'

A special wedding breakfast took place at St. Laurence's Church, Friar Street, yesterday to launch the new law. Workers were treated to uplifting choruses from the Souls of Prophecy Gospel Choir who sang outside the church, while the bishop spoke to passers-by about the new law.

Around 120 vicars from Berkshire aslo visited Greyfriars Church, Friar Street, yesterday to learn about the changes the new law will bring. All vicars in England have to complete a legal refresher course to hear about the Marriage Measure.

The Church of England worked with wedding experts confetti.co.uk on the laws after a survey by the company found that more people would choose a church wedding if they knew one was possible. The study also found that 53 per cent of the general population think church weddings 'feel more proper'."

Visit www.yourchurchwedding.org for more information.

Source: Reading Evening Post 2/10/08

Church urges Government to ‘get serious’ on Climate Change

Action must not be overshadowed by fear of turmoil on financial markets

The Methodist Church in Britain has responded to the report of the Committee on Climate Change by calling for concrete action and a commitment to long-term change.

The Church has welcomed the Committee’s proposal of an 80% target for the reduction of carbon emissions by 2050. This will require a greater investment in energy efficiency and rapid ‘decarbonisation’ of the power and transport sectors. The Church has expressed concern over an apparent lack of direction from the government as to how this is to be achieved.

Christine Elliott, Team Secretary for External Relationships, said: ‘This is a huge challenge. We cannot let the fear of turmoil on the financial markets paralyse us. In the Britain of the future the use of fossil fuels must become the exception rather than the rule.’

The Methodist Church has raised particular concerns over the use of carbon offsetting by industrialised nations. In submissions to Parliament the Church called for the use of carbon credits to be very limited (offsetting no more than 10% of the UK carbon reduction effort). The Government has argued for industry to have the flexibility to use carbon credits to buy out 50% of the carbon reduction effort required by the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS).

‘It would be unethical to dodge our responsibility to cut emissions in the UK by purchasing carbon offsets’, said Steve Hucklesby, Policy Advisor. 'Investment in clean development projects overseas is vital but cannot be a substitute for reducing carbon emissions in the UK. We are looking to the Government to provide strong leadership in mapping out the path to a low carbon economy’.

Source: Methodist News 9/11/08

REAP (Rural Extension with Africa's Poor)

Today I want to share the news that has just come in from a friend who is working with REAP (Rural Extension with Africa's Poor). He writes -

"At the beginning of September, I travelled to Dodoma in Tanzania on behalf of World Relief Canada(their equivalent of Tearfund). REAP's work is very much in line with what they hope to achieve. We were revising the work plan for the Diocese of Central Tanganyika development programme as regards food security and the environment. This was followed by a week of training relating to the outcomes, including two days with the pastors and church workers on the Biblical basis of stewardship.

"The REAP team had a very successful week at their Kisumu Show stand this year. They came back with two trophies and a second place! The second place was for the Best Stand in Environmental Management, for which they were particularly pleased to have beaten many of the 'big boys', including the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources! The Kisumu Show has proved to be an ideal platform to promote REAP's many concepts, which enable Africa's poor to improve their standard of living by more efficiently using resources that are readily available to them. One exhibit at the show was a fireless cooker that enables slow cooking to continue and will also keep food warm.

"Another series of workshops are planned in November to establish new church contacts. This will be a chance to bring more people on board. The starting point will be Natural Medicines, but the Biblical basis of stewardship, and all that that implies, will be incorporated throughout the training.

"An example of Natural Medicines is the aloe vera plant. When broken off, the leaves ooze sap, which is a soothing healer if applied immediately after a burn, so it is very valuable when grown near to where the cooking is done. Moringa leaves are an extremely efficient source of nutrients and when dried can be easily stored and added to the family meal. Over the last few years, the introduction and cultivation of moringa trees has been a major focus of REAP."

We are asked to pray that the vision of REAP's work will continue to spread throughout the continent of Africa and enable more people to live more productively and more comfortably. Our prayers are also needed for the annual Cush consultation being held this month in Sudan, bringing together the Christian NGOs, missions and churches and that faith may result in changed lives.

Jesus, My Unseen Guide

Jesus walks with me each day
He is a wonderful guide
No matter how narrow or steep the road
He never leaves my side.

He is with me by the cool waterfall
We sing, talk, laugh and pray
My life is full of happiness
Because He is never far away.

Throughout the dark long night
Jesus guards me from above
I am secure and have perfect peace
In His eternal love.

Jesus promised never to forsake me
Even when I feel despair
He reaches out with a helping hand
In my heart He is always here.

Glenna M. Baugh © 2008

"Whenever you travel let
Jesus be your guide"
~Quote by Glenna~

A Wesley Wedding

Now that I have caught up with the backlog of emails etc., waiting for me when I returned, and all the other things that needed to be done, like the Prayer Guidelines for October that I draw up for the Northern section of this Methodist Circuit and the proof-reading in a Guatemalan language sent to me by Wycliffe Associates (UK) plus the storing of the apple harvest, etc., I think it is high time that I continued the story of my trip up North last month.

We awoke on the wedding morning to pouring rain, which showed no sign of easing. But we all had to carry on regardless. The bride’s aunt on her father’s side took me to the picturesque church on the outskirts of Newcastle where the couple worship, and we waited expectantly for the bride to arrive with her father. She looked radiant in her elegant white dress and carried a bouquet of white and lilac flowers. Her bridegroom, waiting for her at the altar, is a descendent of John Wesley – a fact that was of special interest and pride for the Methodist members of the family.

Since the vicar knew the couple so well, as he is their own pastor, the service was a very intimate and moving ceremony. It began with the hymn ‘One more step along the world I go’ and there were three readings. The vicar read the first from
I Corinthians, Chapter 13; the bride’s cousin read ‘I married my best friend’ (written by the bride); and the groom’s sister read ‘On your wedding day’. After the exchange of vows and rings, the ceremony ended with ‘The Lord of the Dance’, which ends with ‘I’ll live in you if you’ll live in me, I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.’

It was an unusual wedding in that all the bridal party were in black and white – the bridesmaid wore black dresses with white bouquets and all the men and little pageboy wore black suits with white waistcoats and cravats and many of the ladies at the wedding wore black and white dresses. Someone asked if they were Newcastle supporters, but he answer was ‘No’. The order of service booklets were black with white printing and the tables at the reception were decorated in black and white! All the photos had to be taken inside the church, at the altar, because of the torrential rain.

We then travelled several miles North to Morpeth in Northumbria for the reception at Longhirst Hall, which has magnificent grounds, ideal for wedding photographs. Alas, the rain made this impossible and there was disappointment, for a bridge in the grounds had earlier been decorated with flowers ready for the photographs. The majestic staircase of the Hall had to be substituted instead.

In his parental address, the bride’s father spoke of the way in which his daughter had had to grow up quickly, forgoing a normal childhood because her older brother, who had been born severely handicapped at birth, had needed so much attention, all day, every day, until he died just before his twenty-first birthday. When she saw how much had to be done for him that he could never do for himself, it had made his sister determined to spend her life helping others, and so today, after years of study, she is employed in research into new pharmaceutical treatments for the seriously ill.

Between the meal and the dancing, we watched TV in the lounge and there was a loud gasp when the weather forecast showed a big black cloud – ‘It’s right over us’, they said. On the TV next day, by which time we were safely back in Newcastle, there were dreadful pictures of Morpeth under flood, with a wedding ruined and people having to be rescued by boat and helicopter. It could have been us!

Then came the dancing and for the first time I wondered if I had been wise to travel so far for my great-niece’s wedding! I knew that I could not dance with both my ankles completely fused and the only people I knew would be busy looking after their guests. I needn’t have worried! A large group of ‘twenty-somethings’, friends of the bridal couple said, ‘Come on our table.’ The result was that we all had a wonderful time together, with much laughter and they were all calling me ‘Auntie Olive’. At one point in our conversation, I happened to say, ’I wrote about that on my blog last week.’ And there was a big chorus of ‘What’s a blog?’ This surprised me, so I got out my mobile on which I was able to bring up my blog for them to see. They had great fun, passing it round among them and scrolling up and down to see what I’d written. Finally we went to bed at 2am!

The next morning the bridal couple held an Open House in their home in Newcastle, which is a very unusual house - very tall and very narrow, with just one room on each floor and a winding staircase in between! So the kitchen is on the ground floor and you go up a floor to the sitting room, and so on, with only one room on each floor! It was from this house that I was collected by my nephew, who had not been at the wedding, for the start of the next stage of my exciting visit to the North-East, which I will write about later.

Saving the Family

What an extra busy week it was last week! On Monday evening we had our first full session ‘Under the Tree of Life’ , with its sub-title of ‘Family’, as we discussed the wonderful story of Ruth and Naomi and Boaz. We had learnt that the book of Ruth was one of the Festal Rolls read at each of the Jewish Festivals and that Ruth was read at the Feast of Pentecost.

As you know, the story begins with crop failure and Naomi and her husband and two sons becoming refuges in the land of Moab, where her husband died. Her two sons married Moabite women but both died before they had children. So the three landless, childless women decided to return to Naomi’s family in Bethlehem. On the way, Naomi advised her daughters-in-law to go back to their own homes and Orpah was persuaded to do so, but Ruth declared that she would stay with Naomi, saying ‘Your family will be my family.’ They returned at the beginning of the barley harvest and Ruth was able to support herself and Naomi by gleaning in the harvest fields of Boaz, a kinsman.

Since Boaz was a kinsman, Naomi encouraged Ruth to take advantage of the levirate marriage law, which meant that if a man died childless his brother should marry the widow and give her a child, so that the dead brother’s name would not die out.. But Boaz knew that there was another kinsman who was a closer relative of Naomi and he had to be consulted first. However, he was unwilling to marry Ruth because it would jeopardise his own family. So Ruth and Boaz were married and had a son, Obed, who became the grandfather of King David.

In studying the levirate law, we looked at the strange (to us) story of Tamar, who went beyond the boundaries of the levirate law in order to save the family (Genesis 38). Someone wondered how old the widow would have to be for the brother to marry his brother’s widow and, quick as a flash, someone else said, ‘As old as Olive’. (I am always getting cheek from that young man.) We also looked at times when we include others in our family.

Questions that we discussed were –
What priorities strengthen your family life?
What threatens relationships of lovingkindness in families?
How does your experience of faithful community strengthen or weaken your family’s cohesiveness? What determines the effort and/or sacrifice you are willing to make to maintain connections with extended family?
Identify some of the inconveniences that keep us from including the outsider in our family life? And
What actions and attitudes overcome barriers of inconvenience?

My own thoughts on these questions were that families are much more dispersed today, right across the world, which has made keeping the family in touch with each other much more difficult. However, e-mail has made a huge difference in maintaining contact, not only because of the speed of communication but also because i have found that the male members of the family will gladly send an e-mail whereas they never sent anything by ordinary mail!

For the rest of last week we were set the task of studying the whole of I Chronicles!

Autumn Season

Autumn season is here once again
Such pretty trees of red, yellow and gold
The autumn winds are strong and chilly,
As the leaves fall, it's a beauty to behold.

The leaves fall and break from the trees
Oh how nice stepping on the crunchy leaves
Listening to the sound of the autumn wind,
God created everything from beginning to end.


Summer is over, the flowers have faded
The grass is not growing as tall
The leaves break and fall to the ground,
A shifting change, God's hand is in it all.

We know who holds the world in place
Who gently holds us in His hands
We too are living in the autumn of life,
Autumn winds blow, but God understands.


Yes, we feel the gentle chill of fall
We smell the scent of lovely flowers
With summer past and autumn here,
We give God thanks for His love and cheer.

Bernice Ward © 2005
Bernice's Inspirations