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St Mary's Clergy Letter - April 2011
Dear Friends,
By the time that you read this letter the season of Lent will be upon us. Traditionally this has been a time of fasting and in the more
recent times, we have used lent as a period for giving up a small luxury, such as chocolate.
As a discipline this is a good idea and I would encourage us all to continue to use Lent in this way. However, there is more to Lent
than this! Lent should be used as a period of prayer and study and a time to look for spiritual growth, both in our personal journey
of faith, and as a family of faith in Christ’s Church.
Prayer for God’s blessings on everything that we do in Christ’s name and for the strength to continue following the example and work
that our Saviour has given to each of us.
Prayer for moments of stillness, so that we can listen to the still small voice of God as he calls each one of us to hear him in the
silence. As well as prayer for times of action, that we might be given the strength and courage to serve Jesus even in the most difficult
of times, or places.
As some of you will know, I have been laid for quite some time, but out the period of frustration of not being unable go very far, I
was fortunate to turn what could have been a time of boredom into a period of prayer and study.
And as part of my study, I decided to read about ‘Liberation Theology’ and ‘Feminist Theology’ and I was struck by how close these two
form of theology are and how they can speak out to us in Middleton today.
With regards to ‘Liberation Theology’ most people of Middleton are being held captive in some way. We have a government that seems to
think that the only people who are unable to work, must be idle and skiving. How wrong they are!
We as a the Church in Middleton must do all that we can for those who are unable to speak out for themselves, be they redundant mothers
or fathers, or single parents trying bring up a family on their own, or the sick and the elderly who are living very near the bread line.
Yes, we as a Church are called to care for all who are in need, including asylum seekers and the people of Leeds who are homeless and penniless.
We can do this in all sorts of ways, for example we can support those in need by writing to our M.P.s. Or, by helping those who cannot write in the
filling out of the forms they need, or better still, we could point them in the right direction towards places where some help may be obtained.
We can support the homeless, by ensuring that we give to charities such as St Georges Crypt, who do some of this work in Jesus’ name and on our behalf.
With regards to Feminist Theology, the Anglican Communion worldwide and the Church of England in particular needs to get off the fence with
regards to the consecrating of women bishops.
It was with great joy that I read the other day about one of our curates from St Mary’s, Catherine Ogle, who has recently been made the Dean
of Birmingham Cathedral.
And whilst this is a great occasion that should be celebrated by the Church, when are we going to see some of these women as bishops?
And whilst it good to see a few women in higher places of authority in the Church, when are we going to release the spirituality of the ordinary
women (&men) in our parish congregations; people who for generations have been told by the Church that ‘Father knows best.’ How insulting this
is to the many numbers of women and men who do not fit neatly into the traditional forms of the Churches ministry.
So as we look forward to the great Easter promise, let us pray hard for all who are oppressed in any way and let us work hard to bring the liberating
Kingdom of God, to all people of this great City of Leeds, and to our parishes here in Middleton; and may we always be a place of warm welcome to
the stranger and a place of refuge and comfort to the oppressed.
May God bless you all this Lent and always.
Fr James.
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