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St Mary's Clergy Letter - February 2011
There are two things I want to share with you this month. The first is just a brief thought about some proposed changes to diocesan boundaries,
and the second, MUCH MORE IMPORTANT is about our new monthly healing service which will be starting as part of our 11am Holy Communion service.
It seems the church powers that be are making all sorts of complicated proposals about changing the way our dioceses are organized and it seems there
is a serious proposal to abolish the diocese of Ripon and Leeds and create a New diocese which will include what we now think of as our diocese but as
part of a new diocese centered on Wakefield and having therefore as its cathedral the cathedral of Wakefield. Afraid I’m not very informed about the
details but if you’re interested here’s a huge amount of information about all this on the diocesan website for those of you who have access to the internet.
In this context here’s a very telling reflection, which is attributed (wrongly) to the Roman writer, Petronius, but which none the less puts well the
feelings of many about reorganization.
We trained hard . . . but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that
we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency,
and demoralization.
And now to something much more important: the deep inner and more relevant reorganisation and transformation of our lives that can come from a serious engagement
with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and in one very important way through the ministry of healing. As Christians we are called to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in
partnership with God- this means proclaiming the good news of Jesus in word and deed- this includes of course working for the transformation of society but it also
includes offering the healing which is guaranteed when we walk closely with Our Lord. We all need healing- it may be physical healing we need or perhaps we are
oppressed with emotional problems or mental health issues. The sacrament of healing is going to be offered once a month as part of our Sunday Eucharist- this will
involve the quiet and dignified anointing and laying on off hands of anyone in the congregation who wishes to have it. No magic cures are guaranteed – but our faith
tells us that if we ask God for healing then he will give us the kind of healing we need (which may not necessarily be the kind we asked for). It might be physical;
mental or emotional – but it might , no less importantly, involve healing in a totally different way than we expect- it might be that we are given a new insight
about how we can live our lives better or give us strength for anew beginning or a refreshment of our baptismal vocation.
We all need healing- and actually every baptized Christian may be called to the ministry of laying on of hands – anointing is a specifically priestly ministry in
our Anglican Catholic tradition. It may be that you feel called to this ministry after you’ve experienced it a bit a St Mary’s- speak to a member of the clergy and
we’ll explore this further with you.
Finally I have felt that our community of Middleton particularly is in need of all kinds of healing so we are going to try to leaflet areas of the parish regularly
to let everyone know about the healing services and to invite hem to come. If you can help with the leafleting please let me know. All are welcome to come to St Mary’s
of course at any time- but we want to make a special plea to those in our community who feel the need of God’s loving healing which it is our vocation to facilitate and
enable.
The first Eucharist at which healing will be offered will be Sunday February 6th at the 11am Holy Communion service. Please tell anyone you know who feels they might
like to be offered this sacrament about it, and let them know we will be offering healing every first Sunday of each month at the 11am service.
Every blessing- Andy
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